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* fe«ri'l 







OTHER WORKS ON BUTTERFLIES 
BY THE AUTHOR. 



THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES 
AND CANADA, with special reference to New England. 3 vols., 
imp. 8vo. 1889. 44 + 1958 pp.; 96 plates and maps, plain and colored. 
Half-levant, gilt top, $75.00. 

Published by Houghton, Mifflin &> Co., Boston, Mass. 

BUTTERFLIES : Their Structure, Changes, and Life-Histories, with 
special reference to American Forms. With an Appendix of Practical 
Instructions. i2mo. 1881. 10 4- 322 pp. ; 201 figures. Cloth, $1.50. 

Published by Henry Holt &r Co., Neiu York, N. Y. 

FOSSIL BUTTERFLIES. 4to. 1875. 100 pp. ; 3 plates. Paper, $2.00, 
Published by the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, Salem, Mass. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE GENERIC NAMES PRO- 
POSED FOR BUTTERFLIES : A Contribution to Systematic 
Nomenclature. 8vo. 1875. 203 pp. Paper, $1.00. 

Sold by the Cambridge Entomological Club, Cambridge, Mass. 

THE LIFE OF A BUTTERFLY : A Chapter in Natural History for 
the General Reader. i6mo. 1893. 186 pp. ; 4 plates. Cloth. 

Published by Henry Holt & Co., New York, N. Y. 

IN PREPARATION: 

A STUDENT'S MANUAL OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF NORTH 
AMERICA, NORTH OF MEXICO. 



BRIEF GUIDE TO THE COMMONER 
BUTTERFLIES OF THE NORTHERN 
UNITED STATES AND CANADA 



JSSeing an flntroouction to a Ifmowleoge of tbetr 
Xtfe»1bf0tories 



SAMUEL HUBBARD SCUDDER 







NEW YORK 
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1893 



"4/k 



93 



Copyright, 1893, 

BY 

HENRY HOLT & CO. 







ROBERT DRUMMOND, ELECTROTYPER AND PRINTER, NEW YORK 



PREFACE. 



During the preparation of a long-projected and still 
unpublished Manual of the Butterflies of North America, it 
occurred to me that when that was ready there would still 
be needed something less technical; something which 
should introduce to the young student the names and 
somewhat of the relationships and lives of our commoner 
butterflies; and that if such a guide were restricted to the 
commoner butterflies of the region where it would be most 
used, viz., our Northern States east of the Great Plains — 
much the same territory as was originally and wisely 
covered by Gray's Manual of Botany—the actual extent of 
the work would be so limited as to bring it within the 
reach of all, not alarm the beginner by its magnitude, and, 
because they are better known, permit a fuller account of 
their interesting life-histories. 

I have accordingly selected the butterflies — less than a 
hundred of them — which would almost surely be met with 
by any industrious collector in the course of a year's or two 
years' work in the more populous Northern States and in 
Canada, and have here treated them as if they were the 
only ones found there. I have omitted many species which 
are common enough in certain restricted localities (such, for 
instance, as our White Mountain butterfly) and included 
only those which are common over wide areas. As the 
earlier stages of these insects are just as varied, as interest- 

iii 



IV PREFACE. 

ing, and as important as the perfect stage, descriptions are 
given of these under the guidance of the same principle, 
only such stages as would be more commonly met with 
being fully described, and the egg and earliest forms of 
caterpillar omitted as rarities and as also too difficult for the 
beginner's study. If, then, a young student can find noth- 
ing in this work to correspond with his particular capture, 
then he may rest assured that it is not one of the more 
common kinds, and he will have to go to the larger and 
more technical works to discover what it is. At any rate, 
he is likely to be pleased : either he has found out what it 
is and can thereby learn something of what is already 
known about it ; or he has found a rarity, a discovery not 
always distressing to the amateur. 

To aid in these determinations, separate keys are 
appended for each of the three stages, caterpillar, chry- 
salis, and butterfly, by which any insect included in the 
work may be tracked. 

There is another advantage in this restriction of the 
work to the commoner butterflies, for these are better 
known in the various stages of their lives, and interest in 
them is thereby greatly enhanced. I should be loath 
indeed to treat of butterflies as if they were so many mere 
postage-stamps to be classified and arranged in a cabinet ; 
and if, by adding to the mere descriptions of the different 
species in their various most obvious stages some of the 
curious facts concerning their periodicity, their habits of 
life, and their relations to the world around them, I may 
spread before the eyes of the young some of the attractions 
which lie at the open door of Nature and induce some to 
wander into the by-ways for more eager personal search, I 
shall have gained my end. 

Those wishing still further accounts of the different 
species here described, and jmrticularly descriptions and 
figures of the egg and earlier stages of the caterpillar of 



PREFACE. 



any one of them, are referred to my " Butterflies of the 
Eastern United States and Canada/' and to Edwards's 
" Butterflies of North America/' in one or the other of 
which ample accounts will often be found. 

Species which are found in the region embraced in this 
work, but not regarded as sufficiently common therein to 
merit a place in it, are mentioned by name in their 
appropriate places in smaller type; they number just 
about as many as those of which descriptions are given, 
and full accounts of most of them will also be found in 
the works above mentioned. 

A short Introduction to the study of Butterflies in gen- 
eral, with special application to our own, is prefixed to the 
body of the work, and is followed by a brief section show- 
ing where the principal literature upon the subject is to be 
found. An explanation of some of the terms used is 
appended, and a figure added on p. 60 explanatory of the 
nomenclature of the wing. 

Cambridge, April 13, 1893. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface , iii 

Introduction . . 1 

What are Butterflies? 1 

The Structure of the Perfect Insect or Imago . . . . 2 

The Appearauce of the Egg . 5 ' 

What the Caterpillar is like . . . . 6 

The Character of the Chrysalis .......,.,, 7 

A Few Words about the Eggs 8 

The Lives and Habits of Caterpillars 9 

How the Chrysalis Hangs 12 

The General History of Butterflies 14 

Variation in the Butterfly 15 

Some Remarkable Differences between the Sexes .... 20 

The Senses of Butterflies . . . 22 

Mimicry aud Protective Resemblance ........ 23 

The Classification of Butterflies ....'. 25 

Some Works on American Butterflies 27 

Keys to the various Groups 33 

Key to the Groups, based on the Perfect Butterfly .... 34 

Key to the Groups, based on the Caterpillar 45 

Key to the Groups, based on the Chrysalis 53 

Nomenclature of the Parts of the Wing 60 

The Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United States and 

Canada 63 

Family Brush-footed Butterflies 63 

Subfamily Danaids 63 

Genus Anosia 63 

Anosia plexippus 63 

Subfamily Nymphs 66 

Tribe Crescent- Spots . 66 

Genus Euphydryas 66 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Euphydryas phaeton ....... ... 60 

Genus Cinclidia .... 68 

Cinclidia hariisii ,,..... 68 

Genus Charidryas 69 

Charidryas nycteis 69 

Genus Phyciodes 71 

Phyciodes tbaros 71 

Tribe Fritillaries 72 

Genus Brenthis 72 

Brenthis bellona . 72 

Brenthis myrina 74 

Genus Argynnis . . 76 

Argynuis atlantis 76 

Argynnis aphrodite ............ 77 

Argynnis alcestis ............ 78 

Argynnis cybele 79 

Genus Speyeria 80 

Speyeria idalia 80 

Genus Euptoieta 81 

Euptoieta claudia 81 

Tribe Angle-Wings 82 

Genus Junonia 82 

Junonia coenia 82 

Genus Vanessa 84 

Vanessa cardui 84 

Vanessa huntera ............ 85 

Vanessa atalanta 87 

Genus Aglais 89 

Aglais milberti 89 

Genus Euvanessa 90 

Euvanessa antiopa 90 

Genus Eugonia 92 

Eugonia j-album 92 

Genus Polygonia 93 

Polygonia progne 93 

Polygonia faunus . . . . 94 

Polygonia comma 95 

Polygonia interrogationis 97 

Tribe Sovereigns 98 

Genus Basilarchia 98 

Basilarchia arthemis 98 



CONTENTS. xi 

PAGE 

Jasoniades glaucus . . . 148 

Genus Eupboeades . . . 150 

Euphoeades troilus . 150 

Genus Heraclides 151 

Heraclides crespbontes 151 

Genus Papilio .............. 153 

Papilio polyxenes 153 

Family Skippers 155 

Tribe Larger Skippers 155 

Genus Epargyreus 155 

Epargyreus tityrus 155 

Genus Tborybes 156 

Thorybes py lades 156 

Genus Thanaos .... 158 

Tbanaos lucilius 158 

Thanaos persius 159 

Thanaos juvenalis 161 

Thanaos brizo 162 

Tbanaos icelus 163 

Genus Pholisora 164 

Pholisora catullus 164 

Genus Hesperia 165 

Hesperia montivaga 165 

Tribe Smaller Skippers 166 

Genus Ancyloxipba 166 

Aucyloxipba numitor 166 

Genus Atrytone 167 

Atrytone zabulon 167 

Genus Erynnis 169 

Erynnis sassacus 169 

Genus Antbomaster 170 

Anthomaster leonardus 170 

Genus Polites 170 

Polites peckius 170 

Genus Thymelicus 171 

Thymelicus mystic 171 

Genus Limocbores 173 

Limocbores taumas 173 

Explanation of some Terms 175 

Appendix : Instructions for Collecting, etc 179 



: CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Tribe Coppers 127 

Genus Chrysophanus 127 

Chrysophanus thoe 127 

Genus Epidemia 128 

Epidemia epixanthe 128 

Genus Heodes 128 

Heodes bypophlaeas 128 

Genus Feniseca 130 

Feniseca tarquinius 130 

Family Typical Butterflies 132 

Subfamily Pierids . . 132 

Tribe Red-Horns 132 

Genus Callidryas 132 

Callidryas eubule 132 

Genus Zerene 133 

Zerene caesonia 133 

Genus Eurymus 134 

Eurymus philodice 134 

Eurymus eurytbeme 135 

Genus Xantbidia 137 

Xantbidia nicippe 137 

Genus Eurema . 138 

Eurema lisa 138 

Genus Natbalis 139 

Natbalis iole 139 

Tribe Orange-Tips 140 

Genus Antbocbaris 140 

Antbocbaris genutia 140 

Tribe Wbites 141 

Genus Pontia 141 

Pontia protodice 141 

Genus Pieris 143 

Pieris oleracea 143 

Pieris rapae 144 

Subfamily Swallow-Tails 145 

Genus Laertias 145 

Laertias pbilenor 145 

Genus Ipbiclides 146 

Ipbiclides ajax 146 

Genus Jasoniades 148 



CONTENTS. 



ix 



PAGE 

Basilarchia astyanax 101 

Basilarchia archippus . 102 

Tribe Emperors 104 

Genus Anaea 104 

Anaea andria 104 

Genus Cklorippe 105 

Chlorippe clyton 105 

Chlorippe celtis ■ 106 

Subfamily Meadow Browns or Satyrs 107 

Genus Cissia 107 

Cissia eurytus 107 

Genus Satyrodes 108 

Satyrodes eurydice 108 

Genus Enodia 109 

Enodia portlandia 109 

Genus Cercyonis 110 

Cercyonis alope 110 

Cercyonis nephele Ill 

Family Gossamer-winged Butterflies 113 

Tribe Hair-Streaks 113 

Genus Strymon 113 

Strymon titus 113 

Genus Incisalia 114 

Incisalia niphon 114 

Incisalia irus 115 

Incisalia augustus 116 

Genus Uranotes 117 

Uranotes melinus 117 

Genus Mitura 118 

Mitura damon 118 

Genus Thecla 119 

Thecla liparops 119 

Thecla calanus 120 

Thecla edwardsii 121 

Thecla acadica 122 

Tribe Blues 123 

Genus Everes 123 

Everes comyntas 123 

Genus Cyaniris 125 

Cyaniris pseudargiolus 125 



INTRODUCTION. 



1. What are Butterflies ? 

Oke of the great groups or "orders" into which in- 
sects are divided is called Lepidoptera (derived from two 
Greek words meaning scaly-wings). This group differs 
from all other insects by having in the perfect stage a long, 
hollow, thread-like tongue, through which fluids may be 
sucked or rather pumped up, and which, when not in use, 
is coiled up like a watch-spring; and by having four rather 
broad wings covered with colored scales overlying one 
another in rows like shingles, slates, or tiles on a roof. 
These insects undergo striking changes in the course of 
their lives; for they are hatched from the egg as crawling 
worms having a globular head with biting jaws, and a body 
• supported not only by the three pairs of short horny legs 
found in the young of most insects, but by several, gener- 
ally five, pairs of stumpy, fleshy legs behind them; while the 
two joints of the body next following those with horny 
legs and some other joints near the hinder end never 
have any; from this they change into a pupa or chrysalis, 
a mummy-like object with the legs, wings, and other 
members swathed upon the breast and with no possible 
motion except in the wriggling of the joints of the abdomen 



2 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

or limaer end of the body ; from this temporary prison 
escapes in due time the winged creature of beauty which 
adds such a charm to the summer landscape. 

Butterflies differ from other Lepidoptera by haying 
clubbed or knobbed antennae in their perfect stage, and 
generally in their transformations, for most of them are 
hung up by silken cords attached to hooks on the tail, and 
sometimes also by a girth around the waist; they are rarely 
enclosed in cocoons, or, if so, the chrysalis is in most cases 
also supported within; wdiile moths (i.e., all other Lepi- 
doptera) usually construct silken cocoons, often of very 
close texture, or make cells in the ground, in either of 
which cases the chrysalis lies loosely within or attached by 
the tail only. Butterflies usually fly by day, moths usually 
by night. Butterflies usually rest with their wings erect; 
moths usually with wings flatly expanded or sloping down- 
ward on either side like a tent. 



2. The Structure of the Perfect Insect or Imago. 

The body of a butterfly is distinctly separated into three 
divisions: the head, to which the antennae and the coiled 
tongue are attached ; the chest, trunk, or thorax, which 
supports the four wings and three pairs of legs ; and the 
abdomen. 

The head is the smallest part, but contains a wonderful 
lot of interesting organs. The sides are almost entirely oc- 
cupied by large faceted eyes; from the summit spring a 
pair of slender thread-like but apically clubbed antennae; 
while beneath, between the scaly and hairy upcurved 
three-jointed appendages, called labial palpi, the spiral 
tongue (maxillae) is coiled. 

The most interesting of these organs is this tongue. It 
coils up just like a watch-spring, but may be extended at 
full length, as when plunged into the depths of a flower 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

in search of honey. It appears as if single and solid, but 
is really composed of two exactly similar lateral halves 
grooved along their inner surface, so that when placed 
together the opposing grooves form a fine tube; and to 
secure them in place, so that the tube shall not leak, the 
edges of the grooves are delicately notched so as to dove- 
tail into corresponding teeth on the edge of the opposing 
groove, by which they become closely interlocked. 

To enable the butterfly to pump into its body through 
this tube the honeyed sweets of flowers, the throat at the 
base of the tube expands into a sac with muscles radiating 
toward the walls of the head and others encircling it; 
when the first set of muscles contracts, the interior space 
of the sac is enlarged; when the encircling muscles con- 
tract, it is diminished. By the alternating action of these 
sets, a pumping process goes on aided by a little flap at the 
base of the tube which lets the fluids pass in but not out; 
so that the squeezing of the full sac presses the fluids into 
the stomach; its enlargement creates a vacuum which 
causes the honey in the flower to ascend the tube past the 
valve into the sac. 

The antennse may be divided into a base consisting of 
two joints stouter than those beyond; a thread-like stalk, 
slender and equal, consisting of many joints; and the club, 
w T hich is composed of the swollen tip, sometimes arising 
almost insensibly from the stalk, sometimes abruptly; and 
in the Skippers having usually a recurved hook at the tip; 
the club is usually at least twice as thick as the middle of 
the stalk, generally naked beneath and often flattened. 

The eyes are usually very convex, but vary in different 
groups in this respect as well as in the amount of space 
they cover; they are ordinarily naked, but sometimes deli- 
cately hairy, and in the Skippers are overhung by a curv- 
ing tuft of bristles. The number of facets in the eye is 
very great, numbering thousands to each eye. 



4 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

The thorax is divisible into three parts, called from in 
front backward prothorax or fore-trunk, mesothorax or 
mid-trunk, and metathorax or after-trunk. The protho- 
rax, however, is scarcely more than a flattened plate in 
front, and is easily overlooked; the division between the 
other two masses is readily seen behind when the scales 
are rubbed off, and the mesothorax is seen to be much the 
largest part of the thorax. 

The fore wings are attached to the mesothorax, the hind 
pair to the metathorax, and both are composed of two 
films supported by a system of branching hollow rods and 
the surface -covered with scales. 

Of these rods there are ordinarily four or five to each 
wing, but when all are present there are six. The two 
middle ones of the six are the only ones that branch, and 
are called respectively the subcostal (the upper one) and 
the median ; generally they meet or nearly meet near the 
middle of the wing and enclose what is called the discoi- 
dal cell, and the subordinate rods or nervules appear to 
diverge from its margin. 

The scales are hollow flattened sacs, covered with longi- 
tudinal stria? on the upper surface and generally toothed 
or serrate at the tip, with a short bulbed stem by which 
they are fixed in the wing membrane; upon which they lie 
like shingles on a roof, and by their pigment and the re- 
fraction of light by their surface striae give to the wing all 
its color and delicate markings. 

Certain scales, however, are peculiar to the male sex and 
are curiously distributed in special patches or concealed 
positions so as scarcely to be visible even under the micro- 
scope until they have been uncovered. These are often 
fringed with tassels at the end, each thread of the tassel a 
canal leading through the body of the scale to a gland at 
the base and so serving as scent-organs — the odors being 
sometimes appreciable to human senses and then in all 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

known eases agreeable perfumes like flowers, sandal-wood, 
and musk. 

The legs are six in number, one pair to each division of 
the thorax; they are always very slender and stick-like. 
The front pair, however, as we pass from the lower to the 
higher butterflies becomes more and more atrophied and 
useless, first in the males, then in the females, until in the 
highest family they are utterly useless, often not easy to 
detect, and render this group practically four-legged in- 
• stead of six-legged. 

Their principal divisions are the femur (plural, femora) 
or thigh, the tibia or shank — these two parts generally of 
about equal length and indivisible; and the tarsus, the last 
composed of five always unequal joints, armed beneath 
with short spines and at tip with claws, a pad, and often 
with paronychia or whitlows, a sort of membranous imita- 
tive accompaniment of the claws, perhaps best seen in the 
Pierids. 

The abdomen is formed of nine essentially simple seg- 
ments. The males may be distinguished from the females 
by the structure of the last segment, the females being pro- 
vided with a pair of minute flaps, one on each side, w 7 hich 
protect and form part of the ovipositor, while the males 
have side clasps and an upper median hook for clasping 
the body of the female. The abdomen of the female when 
filled with eggs is very much larger and fuller than that of 
the male, and the sex can thus often be told at a glance. 

3. The Appeakaxce of the Egg. 

The eggs of butterflies are very various in sculpture, and 
though often very simple, are at other times exquisitely 
ornamented. They are usually broad and flat at the base, 
and more or less rounded above. One class may be called, 
in general^ barrel-shaped; but this would include minor 



6 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

divisions, such as thimble-, sugar-loaf-, flask-, or acorn- 
shaped, or even fusiform; others are globular, or hemi- 
spherical, or tiarate. The surface may be more or less 
deeply pitted, or delicately reticulate, or broken up by ver- 
tical ribs connected by raised cross lines, or may be per- 
fectly smooth and uniform; but all have a collection of 
microscopic cells at the centre of the summit perforated 
by little pores, forming the micropyle, through which the 
egg is fertilized; and these microscopic parts are often of 
exceeding beauty. 

4. What the Oaterpillak is like. 

Caterpillars of butterflies do not differ from those of 
moths by any single characteristic. Each family of Lepi- 
doptera has certain peculiarities, and one has to become 
more or less familiar with them to determine whether or 
not a given kind falls in this or that family. 

They are worm-like creatures, but with a distinct horny 
head, separable from the body. 

The head is very different from that of the future but- 
terfly, having biting jaws, no compound eyes, but in their 
place a semicircle t of simple ocelli, and antennae hardly 
visible without a glass; these last, indeed, are very like the 
palpi, a series of two to four rapidly-diminishing rounded 
joints ending in a bristle. 

The body is composed of thirteen (apparently twelve) 
segments of which the first three, corresponding to the 
joints of the future thorax, have each a pair of horny five- 
jointed legs ending with a single claw; while the third to 
sixth and last abdominal segments bear each a pair of two- 
jointed fleshy "prolegs," armed at tip with a single or 
double series of minute hooklets. Breathing pores or 
spiracles are found on the sides of the first thoracic and 
the first eight abdominal segments. Besides this, the whole 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

body is clothed, when adult, with short hairs or longer 
spines set on little pimples, or with fleshy filaments or 
tubercles of some sort, all arranged to a greater or less 
extent (excepting generally the short hairs) in longitudinal 
series, but these are often not precisely aligned on the tho- 
racic and abdominal segments. 

In their earliest stage, however, before their first moult 
and sometimes for a stage or two after it, the clothing of 
the caterpillar is very different from what it is at maturity, 
the appendages usually consisting at first of longer or 
shorter bristles, often tubular and conveying fluids to the 
enlarged summit, and arranged in longitudinal series differ- 
ent from those of the spines or filaments of the mature 
caterpillar. This earliest stage, therefore, needs special 
attention in the study of butterflies, although the creature 
is then exceedingly minute, and, therefore, not considered 
in the present work. 

Certain caterpillars (and this peculiarity usually runs 
through whole groups of allied forms), have certain glands 
opening externally which may secrete fluids or odors of 
various kinds; some of these are eversible like the Y-shaped 
appendages on the top of the segment behind the head of 
the Swallow-Tails and here termed " osmateria"; or the 
lateral polypif orm extrusions called " caruncles " on both 
sides of one of the hinder segments of some of the Blues, 
both kinds of organs being thrown out only under provo- 
cation, 



5. The Chaeacter of the Chrysalis. 

In this state the creature is a sort of mummy, all the 
appendages, both of head and thorax, folded over upon the 
breast, packed closely and tightly glued, extending usually 
to the fourth abdominal segment. In a few of the lower 
butterflies, the tongue extends still further and is then 



8 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

more or less free. All of the appendages, however, are not 
seen, for the palpi and hind legs are entirely concealed 
beneath the other members, and the organs that appear are 
ranged in the following order from the middle line out- 
ward: tongue, fore legs, middle legs, antennae, fore wings, 
hind wings, of the latter of which very little is seen, they 
being mostly covered by the fore pair. 

The body is compact, but there are usually some marked 
prominences upon the surface, notably in certain places, 
such as the front of the head, which usually has a pair of 
projections, sometimes only one; the middle of the back of 
the mesothorax, often ridged or with a pointed projection; 
the extreme base of each of the wings, which are usually 
tuberculate or humped ; and the middle line of the back of 
the abdomen or the sides of the same, which are often 
ridged. In the highest family, where the caterpillars are 
spined, there are often rows of conical tubercles on the 
chrysalis corresponding generally to the position of the 
larger spines of the caterpillar. 

This is all that need be said regarding the actual struc- 
ture of butterflies in their different stages to one beginning 
their study, for it is better to dwell rather upon their lives 
and protean changes, their histories and habits, if we wish 
to gain a true and favorable insight into their character- 
istics. 

G. A Few Words about the Eggs. 

The eggs of butterflies are always laid in full view, ex- 
cepting that in a few instances they are partially concealed 
by being thrust into crevices. Ordinarily they are laid 
on one or the other surface of the leaves of the food-plant 
of the caterpillar or on the stem of the same, and usually 
on or in contiguity to the tenderer growing leaves. As a 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

general rule, the eggs are laid singly, in some instances on 
the extreme tip of a pointed leaf; but in not a few cases 
they are laid in clusters of from two or three to several 
hundreds. Sometimes these are rude bunches j)iled loosely 
or in layers one upon another; sometimes they are laid in 
more or less regular single or double rows; sometimes in a 
single column of three or four or even as many as ten eggs, 
one atop another; or they may girdle a twig like a fairy 
ring. The duration of the egg state is commonly from 
one to two weeks, but it varies in different species in the 
summer-time from five or even less days to about a month; 
there are, however, some butterflies which pass the winter 
in the egg state. In all such cases the eggs are laid upon 
the stem, never upon the leaf, and some spot is chosen, like 
the neighborhood of a leaf -scar, which affords a certain 
amount of protection during the winter. 

7. The Lives a^d Habits of Catekpillaes. 

When eggs of butterflies are laid in clusters, the cater- 
pillars are almost invariably social to a greater or less de- 
gree, at least in early life, sometimes to maturity ; if they 
are laid singly and it is only by accident that several are 
laid near together, the caterpillars are solitary. In the 
majority of cases where the egg is laid singly, the first act 
of the escaping caterpillar is to devour it entirely or in 
greater part. 

Solitary caterpillars may live exposed on the upper or 
the under sides of leaves, or they may retire to the stem of 
the food-plant for greater security, or they may construct, 
each for itself, some kind of concealment, or live within 
fruits. When fully exposed, they usually remain quite 
motionless, stretched at full length when not feeding, and 
may select for their resting-place peculiar spots. The most 
curious is one adopted by some Brush-footed Butterflies (and 



10 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

the egg is then commonly laid at or near the extreme tip of 
the leaf) which devour the apical portion of the leaf, leav- 
ing the midrib untouched, and percli themselves upon this 
midrib after having attached to it by a few threads a small 
packet of bits of leaf and frass which is moved by every 
breath of wind, — probably to distract the attention of its 
enemies from itself. 

Others construct shelters more or less complicated. 
Some merely spin transverse threads across the floor of a 
leaf, causing its sides to curl, and then recline, half hidden, 
in the shallow trough; others make it so complete that 
the edges meet and the leaf forms a cylinder; still others 
fasten the opposite edges by silk and by biting weaken the 
resistant ribs and also the main rib so that the leaf droops; 
others bite channels into the leaf at two distant points and 
turn the flap thus formed over upon the leaf, securing it 
in place by silken strands; while for winter use the partly 
grown caterpillar of the later brood of Basilarchia and 
some allied genera not only coils a leaf into a cylinder but 
lines it within and without with silk, leaves a ledge to crawl 
out upon, and secures the leaf to the twig by strong silken 
fastenings. In nearly all these cases the caterpillar seems 
to rest upon the upper surface of a leaf and curl the sides 
upward, very rarely the reverse. 

But there are others which fasten several leaves together, 
generally very slightly, to form a leafy bower, or in the 
case of grasses a tubular burrow; and in a few instances, 
as in Vanessa huntera, bits of the inflorescence of the plant 
are caught in the slight meshes of the net to make a more 
perfect concealment. Among our Larger Skippers many 
which live half their life in a nest formed of a single leaf 
finish it in a bower made of many. 

Social caterpillars often construct nests in company, 
which then often embrace in an irregular web the whole 
or nearly the whole of a branch of the food-plant. Usually 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

the web is thin and hardly conceals the surface, but some- 
times it is almost like parchment, as in the Mexican 
Eucheira socialis. Winter is sometimes passed in one of 
these webs, and when constructed, as it sometimes is, on an 
annual, the shrinkage after the death, of the stalk makes a 
compact mass of leaves, frass, web, and caterpillars, from 
which it would seem as if no caterpillar could escape m 
the spring. When social caterpillars construct no shelter, 
they usually feed side by side in rows, and move from place 
to place in files. 

A very large number of our caterpillars live through the 
winter, and this is often the only means by which a 
species survives the inclement season; most of them hiber- 
nate when about half grown; others, strange to say, jusc 
from the egg, without having eaten anything but the shell 
from which they came; still others hibernate full grown 
and full fed, changing to chrysalis just when vegetation 
starts in the spring. Some of these caterpillars, especially 
those partly or fully grown, construct nests for hiberna- 
tion; others use the same nest which has served their 
larval life, strengthening it against the greater needs of 
winter; others seek crannies of any kind. 

In some cases where the caterpillars of a second brood 
hibernate when half-grown, the caterpillars of the first 
brood at the hibernating age, but in midsummer, will fall 
into lethargy, from which some will arouse after say a fort- 
night's quiescence, while others will prolong their pre- 
mature into actual hibernation, and in the following spring 
caterpillars of the same stage but of two successive broods 
will mingle together. 

It is apparent, then, that there is considerable variety 
in the duration of life of caterpillars. Instances are on 
record where the time from birth to chrysalis was only 
about ten days; ordinarily it is at least a month; with 
those that hibernate it may be in some cases nearly a year; 



12 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

while there are several instances known where caterpillars 
have lived over two winters and might therefore take from 
eighteen to twenty or more months for their larval ex- 
istence alone. 



8. How the Chrysalis Hangs. 

In making its preparation for its final moult, when the 
change to chrysalis is to take place, the caterpillar proceeds 
in exactly the same manner as in preceding moults, except 
that it spins more silk and, in addition to the carpet on 
which it stands, adds other strands of a special nature, 
according to the method in which the chrysalis is to swing. 
The chrysalis is provided with special hooks at its posterior 
end with which to engage the silken pad prepared for it, 
excepting in the case of a few which change on the surface 
of the ground. 

One mode of suspension is to hang pendent by the tail 
alone from a pad of silk. Generally free to swing with 
every jar or breeze, the more so as the pad is usually more 
or less loosely woven, there are some in which the hooks 
are distributed over a more or less elongated area, and, the 
caterpillars having constructed a more compact pad, the 
attachments are firmer and more extended, so that the 
chrysalis may be more or less rigid and even hang in a 
position by no means vertical but inclined strongly toward 
the horizontal. 

The movements of chrysalids of the pendent type are 
not confined to the looseness of attachment of the hooks 
or the nature of the web to which they cling, but in all 
there is more or less capability of motion by the sliding of 
the abdominal joints ^.pon one another, and the chrysalis 
may thus effect voluntary motion, sometimes, when dis- 
turbed, of an extraordinarily active kind. Some chrysalids, 
moreover, make slow periodic diurnal movements, helio- 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

tropic or phaotropic, i.e. toward or away from trie sun or 
light, sometimes lateral, sometimes forward and backward. 

Other chrysalids are attached not only by the tail but 
also by a girth, whether tight or loose, slung around the 
middle of the body in the dorsal depression or saddle which 
always exists between the thoracic and abdominal regions. 
If the girth be tight, the ventral surface of the chrysalis, 
which touches the surface of rest, is nearly or quite straight ; 
if loose, it is often bent to a greater or a less degree oppo- 
site the girth, or describes a curve with the same point as 
the middle of the arc. 

A modification of this mode of suspension is seen in some 
Skippers, which make cocoons in which both the median 
girth and sometimes to a less extent the tail attachments 
form Y-shaped strands, which are attached at their ex- 
tremities to the walls of the cocoon ; into the centre of one 
set the hooks of the tail are plunged, while the middle of 
the body is slung between the longer arms of the other and 
larger set of strands. 

There is but one family of butterflies in which all the 
members construct cocoons — the Skippers. Their cocoons 
are usually of a rather fragile nature and consist (usually) 
of leaves, blades of grass, or other vegetable material, gen- 
erally living, shaped into a more or less oval or cylindrical 
cell by silken attachments ; sometimes the interior is more 
or less perfectly lined with a thin membrane of silk; within 
this, as just stated, the chrysalis hangs by means of Y- 
shaped shrouds, the form of the smaller one sometimes 
difficult to determine from the mingling of its threads with 
those forming the extremity of the cocoon. 

Chrysalids which give birth to butterflies the same sea- 
son vary in their duration from about three days to a month, 
but usually from ten days to a fortnight. But a consider- 
able number pass the winter in this shape, and may then 
endure from five to eleven months, and sometimes this lat- 



14 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

ter variation may occur in a single species having several 
broods, in which an increasing proportion of each succes- 
sive brood of chrysalids of one season pass over the ensuing 
winter. Instances are on record in which chrysalids, nor- 
mally hibernating, have been known to pass over a second 
winter and then give birth to the butterfly. 

9. The General History of Butterflies. 

Beginning life as an egg which usually hatches . within 
a few days after being laid, the young caterpillar finds 
its sole duty to be to eat and escape being eaten. It 
feeds voraciously, and outgrows its skin so often that it 
is obliged to moult four or five times before it is full 
grown. On each of these occasions it stops feeding for a 
while, spins a carpet of silk, and fastens its claws therein; 
when the time for change comes, the old skin splits along 
the middle of the back of the thoracic segments by violent 
muscular effort, the old head-case (from which the new 
head was first withdrawn) is shaken off and the creature 
crawls out of its old skin, which in many instances it there- 
upon devours. In the last change, to chrysalis, the head 
is not removed from the old skin, but itself splits in the 
middle and down one or both sides of the frontal triangle, 
and the chrysalis emerges. After hanging awhile, the 
chrysalis skin splits at much the same points and the but- 
terfly emerges to begin the cycle again with the laying of 
eo'^s. 

The cycle of changes through which a butterfly moves is 
in temperate climates commonly passed once each year, — 
or rather once each season, for it is winter that usually in- 
terferes with the activities by robbing the creature of its 
means of sustenance and paralyzing its action. Inasmuch 
as the pupal stage is in the higher insects the period of 
longest inactivity, one would presume beforehand that 






INTRODUCTION. 15 

this period would coincide with winter ; and so it does in 
a large number of cases. Yet among butterflies the ex- 
ceptions to such a rule are not only exceedingly common, 
but, as might be expected were there any departure, they 
are very varied and winter is passed, by one species or an- 
other, in every conceivable stage of existence, including 
every part of caterpillar life. Indeed, cases are not un- 
known, especially in high latitudes and altitudes, where more 
than one season is required to bring a butterfly to maturity. 
• On the other hand, a large number of our butterflies, and 
this is especially true southward, complete the cycle of their 
changes twice or oftener in a season, and there are not a 
few having an extended latitudinal range which vary in this 
respect, having one or more broods in the northern part of 
their range, and an added brood or more in the southern. 
The end of the season generally surprising multiple-brooded 
butterflies in all stages of existence, an opportunity has 
easily arisen for every possible form of hibernation or 
lethargic life, which accounts for the variation discoverable 
in the lives of our butterflies, each form settling at last 
upon that series of changes which is best fitted for it. 

10. Variation in the Butterfly. 

Like most creatures, butterflies, when they are found 
over a wide territory, show great difference between indi- 
viduals found in the extremes of the range, so that it is 
sometimes difficult to tell, at least until collections are 
made over the intervening country, whether specimens 
from distant places should be regarded as distinct species 
or as geographical varieties. The most skilled may make 
mistakes for lack of proper material. 

But quite apart from this, butterflies appear to be ex- 
ceptionally sensitive to the environment and to offer an 
unusual amount of variation of a different sort ; for di- 



16 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

morphism or polymorphism of various kinds, that is, the 
existence of a given species under recognizably distinct 
forms (two or more, even sometimes to five or six) is by no 
means uncommon. 

This distinction is often sexual; indeed there are relative- 
ly few species in which the outward aspect of the two sexes 
does not differ, in some cases to a remarkable degree. It is 
universal in the numerous species of Eurymus, for example, 
where in general the inner margin of the dark outer bor- 
dering of the wings is sharp and precise in the male, con- 
fused and irregular in the female. In very many cases, 
however, it is accompanied by a simple dimorphism, some- 
times affecting one sex only (and then usually the female), 
as in many species of Eurymus, where one form of female 
has the bright ground color of the male, the other a pallid 
ground color ; at other times affecting both sexes, as in 
some species of Polygonia : in P. interrogationis, for ex- 
ample, there are four sets of individuals differing in the 
general coloring of both surfaces of the wings and even in 
the form of the wings — differences all of which may occur 
in the progeny of a single individual and fed on the same 
plant. 

But these differences are very often correlated with, 
generally confined to, differences of brood. One of the 
most striking and at the same time one of the simplest 
examples is in the double-brooded European species 
Araschnia prorsa, where the first brood is composed of 
individuals of one type with highly variegated markings 
(levana), the second of a very distinct type with more 
sharply-contrasted coloring (prorsa), which, until they 
were bred from each other, were universally, and reason- 
ably, regarded as distinct species. This is called seasonal 
dimorphism. 

Numerous striking examples occur in this country, not 
a few of which are excellently shown in Edwards's Butter- 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

flies of North America, such as many species of Polygonia 
(in P. interrogationis they are largely seasonal, the latest 
brood being all of one type), Phyciodes tharos, the species of 
Pieris, and especially Iphiclides ajax. The latter instance 
is the more remarkable, because the three forms (marcel- 
lus, telamonides, and ajax), though sequent in the order 
named, do not strictly represent distinct broods, since the 
earlier emerging individuals of the first brood are marcel- 
lus, the later-appearing individuals of the same brood are 
telamonides, while the subsequent broods, of which there 
are several, are ajax. 

Distinct climatal differences, whether temperature or 
moisture (or both), are unquestionably the prime cause of 
seasonal dimorphism, the former in temperate, the latter in 
tropical, regions. The first has been practically proved by 
experiment, the latter by the correspondence of the phe- 
nomena to that of temperate climates and their synchro- 
nism with the dry and wet seasons. 

Many cases of dimorphism are compound. Instances of 
this have already been given; indeed, most cases of dimor- 
phism involve some distinct element, such as season or lati- 
tude, or temperature in some form. Thus, Jasoniades 
glaucus, which exhibits dimorphism in the female, does so 
only in the south, for the dark form of the female (in 
which the conspicuous normal stripes of the male are ob- 
scured) occurs but rarely north of Pennsylvania, although 
there is a distinct tendency in both sexes to a broadening 
of the darker markings and the partial suppression of the 
yellow in high northern latitudes or their equivalent, as 
among the White Mountains of Xew Hampshire. A sim- 
ilar instance occurs in Everes corny nt as with the boundary 
limits of the dark female at about the same place. 

Nearly all the above instances of dimorphism where it is 
not of the simplest kind (whether seasonal or not) may be 
termed polymorphic, since more than two types of individ- 



18 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

uals appear in a single species; especially is this the case 
where a sort of double dimorphism occurs, like that of 
Iphiclides ajax or of Polygonia interrogationis mentioned 
above. Instances have also been cited where the geo- 
graphical element entered; but polymorphism is most con- 
spicuous and complicated where all the above elements are 
combined, — where dimorphism between the sexes, dimor- 
phism also between the members of one sex confined to 
distinct portions of the range of the species, and seasonal 
dimorphism more or less limited in its geographical range 
and in its correlation with the broods (as the species may 
be multiple-brooded or not), may be further complicated 
by geographical variations independent of and running 
through all the others. Two cases may be cited as remark- 
able instances of complicated j)olymorphism if the facts 
shall prove well grounded. 

In the extreme north, Cyaniris pseudargiolus is single- 
brooded and appears in two forms, an earlier with heavier 
markings (lucia) and a later (violacea); the males of both 
are blue above; the females paler blue with broad dark 
margins to the fore wings. In New England it is double- 
brooded, the sexes differing as before; the first brood is 
trimorphic and serial, the earliest individuals having heavy 
markings (lucia), the next intermediate markings (vio- 
lacea), the last light markings (neglect a), while the second 
brood is composed entirely of neglecta; in the northern 
part of the belt in which the first brood is trimorphic, the 
form neglecta is comparatively rare, and lucia the most 
abundant, while the reverse is the case in the southern 
part of the same belt (and lucia itself is so variable that 
one type of it has been separated as marginata). Farther 
south lucia disappears altogether and the first brood is di- 
morphic, — violacea and neglecta in theorder of their appear- 
ance; but now a new element is introduced, for the males 



INTRO D UCTION. 1 9 

of violacea become dimorphic, one form resembling the 
males of the same found farther north, the other being 
uniformly dark above (violacea-nigra). In the southern 
part of its range, the latest individuals (neglecta) of the 
first brood are usually much larger than the members of 
the second brood, all of which are otherwise of the same 
type. This butterfly flies not only from Hudson Bay to 
Georgia, but also from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in 
California we have a new form (piasus), hardly distinguish- 
able from neglecta, which appears to be double-brooded in 
the south but to show no difference between the broods. 
Farther north, however, near the British boundary, the 
conditions of New England are at least in part repeated, 
while in Arizona an ashen variety (cinerea) occurs. 

The different forms assumed by Eurymus eurytlieme 
have caused their description as distinct species on four or 
five occasions. It, too, has an immense range. In Texas 
the cycle begins in November (the summer and not the 
winter interfering with its activities) with a yellow type 
(ariadne) succeeded by a yellow-orange type (keew T aydin) 
and finally by an orange type (amphidusa), each a distinct 
brood, the last-named indeed double-brooded; with the in- 
crease of temperature, the size and the depth and brilliancy 
of color increase; the form keewaydin has a sexually di- 
morphic female, one resembling the male in ground color, 
the other pallid (keewaydin-pallida), and the form amphi- 
dusa is similarly favored (amphidusa-alba). In the north- 
ern part of the range of the species, the earliest (May) form, 
a yellow one, differs so much from the earliest (November) 
type of the south as to be given a distinct name (eriphyle), 
and when keewaydin and amphidusa have had their turn, 
it again appears in the latter part of the season, and 
though the autumn form has not received a distinct name, 
it can be distinguished from the spring form, at least in 



^0 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

the male sex, the spring individuals being uniform chrome 
yellow above, while the October males are of a whitish yel- 
low and the hind wings are dusted with gray. 

11. Some Kemarkable Differences between the 

Sexes. 

Many male butterflies may be readily distinguished by 
characteristic tufts, rows, or wisps of hairs or patches of 
special scales or membranous folds generally rendered in 
some way conspicuous, and which do not occur in the 
female. Of the first we have a good example in our 
species of Argynnis, which show a row of long semi-recum- 
bent hairs on the upper surface of the hind wings between 
the costal and subcostal nervures; of the second in the 
mealy-looking margins of the upper surface of the wings 
of Callidryas, the discal patch on the fore wings of many 
Hair-streaks, the apparently blackened and thickened veins 
of the fore wings of Argynnis, or the discal streak accom- 
panied by large tilted scales so common in the Smaller 
Skippers ; of the last in the blackened pocket of the hind 
wings of Anosia, the plaited fold of the hind wings of 
Laertias, or the deftly inconspicuous costal fold of the 
Larger Skippers. 

These very patches or folds usually conceal scales differ- 
ing to a greater or less extent from the surrounding scales 
and peculiar to the males, called scent-scales or androconia, 
i.e., male-scales. They do not, however, always occur in 
these patches (where they are usually concealed from view 
to some degree), but may be simply scattered among the 
other scales and then, being almost invariably much 
smaller, almost completely concealed from view. 

While the ordinary scales of butterflies, common to both 
sexes, show very little variety in their structure, being 
striate, more or less fan-shaped or shingle-shaped laminae 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

with finely-toothed apical margin, the androconia show an 
extraordinary variety of structure, but are rarely toothed at 
the tip. They may be shaped like an Indian club, a 
shepherd's crook, a loug needle ending with a whip-lash, a 
twisted ribbon, a battledore, an elongated fan, a row of 
beads, a spatula, a tapering ribbon with fringed tip, or may 
assume many other forms which could only be described at 
length; they are generally very slender and minute. Where 
they are fringed, it is highly probable that the separate 
threads of the fringe are so many canals conducting to 
glands at the base of the scale, for in many instances odors 
plainly perceptible have been traced to this source. 

These odors are in all cases of an agreeable nature and 
have generally been compared either to the fragrance of 
certain flowers or to the musky odors of quadrupeds; the 
last is a very common scent among insects and is known in 
such different creatures as the imago of the beetles Prionus 
and Osmoderma, the imago of the butterfly Argynnis, and 
the half-grown caterpillar of the moth Arctia parthenos. 

These androconia are very capricious in their occurrence 
both as to exact location and as to their presence or absence 
in allied forms. They appear to be almost invariably pres- 
ent in all the species of any given genus or else absent from 
all, but allied genera in a single tribe often vary in this 
particular. They occur in all families and in most, per- 
haps all, tribes of butterflies. 

They are usually found upon the upper surface of the 
fore wings, very rarely, if ever, upon the under surface of 
any; they may be scattered indiscriminately over the wing, 
be collected into definite but vague areas traversing the in- 
terspaces, assemble along the principal nervures or at the 
extremity of the discal cell, or in a narrow discal streak or 
costal fold, or be confined to a little pocket on the broad 
face of the hind wings, or lie in a closed plait next the anal 
margin, or in various other positions. 



22 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 



12. The Senses of Butterflies. 

The power and range of vision in butterflies (and in 
insects in general) have without doubt been popularly 
overestimated. Both direct experiments and study of the 
structure of the compound eye lead to the same conclusion: 
that while insects have a quick perception of moving objects 
or of objects among which they are moving, they have no 
power of distinguishing precise form or delicate distinc- 
tions of color or patterns, their visual perception being 
confused or vague. 

The delicacy of the sense of smell in insects, and espe- 
cially in Lepidoptera, makes full amend for defective vision. 
The quick advent of males among many tribes to secluded 
and concealed females, the possession of many odoriferous 
organs, the evidence that many others exist where the odors 
are imperceptible to human sense, all point to a delicate 
and keen perceptive power in this direction. It is alto- 
gether probable — and no other explanation has so great 
probability — that it is by the exercise of this sense that 
the parent butterfly discovers the proper food-plant for the 
deposition of her eggs. The organs for this sense are 
probably resident in the antennae. 

The fondness of butterflies for the honeyed sweets of 
flowers at once suggests a high development of the sense 
of taste ; for that it is not purely a matter of hunger or the 
need of nourishment may be seen in the cases so often 
noted where butterflies fill their bodies until they can 
scarcely fly, which is far beyond any need of nourishment; 
or in the groups which continue for hours around a moist 
spot in a road imbibing the innutritive fluids. The organs 
for this sense are probably resident in the tongue-papillae. 

There seem to be no reasons for believing that any high 
degree of power in hearing is to be found among butter- 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

flies, as there are no organs known to serve as receptive 
elements, and the sounds made by butterflies are apparently 
due simply to the rustling of the wings. All motions that 
look as if possibly meant to convey sound (where none can 
be detected by the human ear), such as the quivering of 
the wings in sexual approximation, may be solely to waft 
emitted odors the more effectively. 

Little can be said or presumed regarding touch of 
animals whose external parts are all crustaceous; but it is 
plain that warmth and cold, which deal with the same 
nervous elements, have decided influences in every stage 
beyond the egg. The ordinary inactivity of caterpillars in 
the night can not be laid to the absence of light, for their 
behavior in darkened apartments is much the same as out 
of doors; the movements of chrysalids tell the same story; 
and we know that a measurable amount of movement of 
the antennae occurs with changing temperature in hiber- 
nating, practically dormant, butterflies. 

13. MlMICEY AND PSOTECTIVE EeSEMBLA^ t CE. 

Most butterflies when at complete rest close their hind 
wings back to back and sink the fore wings as far as pos- 
sible into concealment behind them. The area of these 
wings then exposed to view is in a very large proportion of 
butterflies so colored and mottled or marbled as to render 
the butterfly immensely less conspicuous in its resting- 
place than if settled with wings expanded or the front pair 
not mostly concealed; in very many cases so little con- 
spicuous as to be difficult to detect. Barely are any other 
parts similarly colored. That this resemblance is protective 
there can be no doubt, especially in view of its common 
occurrence. 

There are, however, innumerable instances of special and 
striking provisions in this direction, of which one of the 



24 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

most generally known is that of the oriental genus Kallima, 
the species of which are highly colored on the upper sur- 
face and conspicuous objects when in flight, but which are 
so colored and marked upon the under side that when 
alighted upon a twig, as they do with the fore wings thrown 
well forward and all wings closed, the pattern and color 
of the under surface are such as to make a perfect resem- 
blance to a leaf whose midrib, a colored stripe crossing 
both wings and terminating at the apex of the fore pair, 
takes its rise from a tail-like extension of the hind wings 
which just reaches the twig from which the mock leaf 
thus springs, the tail of the w r ing corresponding to the 
pedicel of the leaf ! 

These phenomena, however, reach their culmination in 
the examples of mimicry of one butterfly by another, of 
which there are numerous examples of an extraordinary 
kind such as perhaps no other group of animals can pro- 
duce. A large proportion of the objects of mimicry belong 
to the subfamily Euplceinae, known to be a group protected 
to a large extent against foes by the possession of nauseous 
qualities, and it is therefore presumed that all other objects 
of mimicry have from some cause or other some immunity 
from early death above their fellows. Such a supposition 
is the only one, and a sufficient one, to account for the 
extraordinary resemblance of otherwise unprotected butter- 
flies, especially in the female sex (for not always do the 
males become mimickers), to such nauseous or protected 
butterflies, a resemblance not only striking for its exceed- 
ingly impressive quality, but for the departure required 
from the normal type of coloring or pattern of the group, 
or even from that of the other sex alone; for its extension 
to structural features, such as length of antennae and form 
of wing, and to mode of flight; and also for the fact that 
the mimicker seems to fly only in the territory occupied by 
the mimicked, while in neighboring territory occupied by 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

another of the protected group another mimicker more 
nearly resembling it will represent it. We have one 
remarkable example of this mimicry in our own country 
in the resemblance of Basilarcliia archippus to Anosia 
plexippus. 

14. The Classification of Butterflies. 

The number of family groups into which butterflies 
should be primarily divided has been variously given by 
naturalists as from two to sixteen. Writers who have in- 
sisted on any large number have, however, relied mainly 
upon single and relatively unimportant characters, mostly 
drawn from the neuration of the wings of the imago, and 
almost ignoring the earlier stages of the insects. Those 
who have paid serious attention to the latter and have re- 
garded all parts of the structure have generally considered 
the number as from four to six. In the present work they 
are regarded as but four in number, called Skippers (Hes- 
peridae), Typical Butterflies (Papilionidse), Gossamer- 
winged Butterflies (Lycaenidae), and Brush-footed Butter- 
flies (Nymphalidae). 

If we examine these different groups with regard to 
their interrelationship it is plain that the Skippers show 
by far the greatest and most numerous points of resem- 
blance to the moths; and if we look to the sum of the 
characters of each as regards their departure from the char- 
acteristics of the lower Lepidoptera, we shall see that they 
unquestionably fall into the order in which they are here 
placed. In addition to this we shall find two very distinct 
parallel series in structure and transformations which fol- 
low precisely the same course, each independent of the 
other, each pointing out the lines along which develop- 
ment has proceeded and thus indicating a natural classifi- 
cation. 



26 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

One of these concerns the mode of transformation. In 
the moths, with very few exceptions, a cocoon or cell is 
formed within which the transformations take place. The 
Skippers form a cocoon, but lighter than is common among 
the moths, and in addition (perhaps not universally, but 
very generally) the chrysalids are loosely swung up within 
the cocoon by the Y-shaped shrouds mentioned above. 
The Typical Butterflies retain the shrouds though they drop 
the cocoon, but, as the result, the hinder shrouds become a 
mere pad of silk, the median shrouds a loose loop. The 
only change in the Gossamer-winged Butterflies is the tight- 
ening of the median loop and the flattening of the ventral 
surface of the chrysalis to correspond. Lastly in the Brush- 
footed Butterflies the median loop is dropped and the chry- 
salis hangs by the tail-fastenings alone, while the straight 
ventral surface is generally retained — a significant atavistic 
indication of the girt stage. 

The other regards the structure of the forelegs of the 
imago. In the Skippers these agree perfectly with the other 
legs (as in the moths), except in the presence of a median 
spine on the tibiae. The same is true of the Typical Butter- 
flies excepting that the median spine is wanting in one of 
the two subfamilies (Pierids) regarded as the further re- 
moved from the Skippers. In the Gossamer-winged But- 
terflies atrophy has begun, but is insignificant excepting 
in the male sex. While in the Brush-footed Butterflies 
atrophy in both sexes has extended to complete disuse in 
both, though usually more excessive in the male than the 
female; one subfamily, nearest to the Gossamer-winged 
Butterflies, partakes in this particular of the characters of 
the latter, namely, the Snout Butterflies or Long Beaks 
(Libytheinae). 



SOME WORKS ON AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES. 27 



SOME WORKS ON AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES. 

The first important work on American Butterflies was 
published in England nearly a century ago by Sir Edward 
Smith, and contained the observations and colored illus- 
trations of John Abbot, an Englishman some time resident 
in Georgia. The work * was issued in two folio volumes, 
but only a part of the first volume treated of butterflies, 
the remainder relating to moths. Drawings of caterpillar, 
chrysalis, and butterfly were given in every case, and as a 
rule they were very well executed. A single page of text 
accompanied each plate, and 24 plates of butterflies are 
given, representing as many species. Many unpublished 
drawings of Abbot are still preserved, as he supported him- 
self by their sale and was a most industrious entomological 
artist. 

The first substantial addition to our knowledge, so far 
as the early stages are concerned, was derived, principally 
from the same source — Abbot's drawings. This was a 
smaller octavo volume f prepared by Dr. Boisduval of 
Paris in collaboration with Major LeConte of New York, 
published in parts but never completed. The twenty-six 
parts contained 78 plates, illustrating about 93 species, 
while the text only covered 85 species, not all of which 



* The Natural History of the rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia. 
2 vols. fol. London, 1797. 104 pi. 

f Histoire generale et iconographie des Lepidopteres et des che- 
nilles de l'Amerique septentrionale. 8vo. Paris, 1829-42. 228 pp., 
78 pi. 



28 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

were figured. The illustrations, in color, are inferior to 
those of the preceding work. Both the above works can 
now be obtained only by chance through the second-hand 
dealers of Europe, and are high-priced. 

Two other richly illustrated and costly works upon our 
native butterflies have been published in our own country. 
The first is Edwards's Butterflies,* a serial work, irregularly 
issued and of which the third volume is now nearly com- 
pleted. The plan of this work is to describe and figure 
rare or interesting species or those of which the life-history 
has been discovered, the species following no regular order. 
Usually only a single species is given on a plate, but some- 
times two or more of one genus appear, or a species may 
cover two or three plates. The wealth, delicacy, and ac- 
curacy of the drawings in certain species has never been sur- 
passed or even nearly equalled in any work ever published in 
any country; nowhere else have the eggs, caterpillars, and 
chrysalids of single species or the variations of the perfect 
butterfly been illustrated with such copiousness; while the 
text is often full of the most interesting accounts of the 
habits and life of the insects. Each volume contains 50 
plates or more, and on the 162 which have apj^eared up to 
this writing about as many different butterflies have been 
depicted; of 57 of the species more or less abundant details 
of the early stages are given and often a surprising number 
of illustrations. Through this work the early lives of some 
of our butterflies are better known than those of any other 
country, and this often applies to species from far-distant 
and inaccessible parts of the country like the Eocky 
Mountains. Nearly all the illustrations are in color. 

The other work is of a more limited scope, but has 
the advantage of completeness as far as it goes, and of a 
systematic arrangement whereby our knowledge becomes 

* The Butterflies of North America. 3 vols. 4to. Boston, 1868-93. 



SOME WORKS ON AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES. 29 

clearer.* It covers only the butterflies of nearly the same 
region as the present volume, but describes them all, and 
as far as possible in every stage of life with exceptionally 
full accounts of their distribution and life-histories, and 
full definitions of the characters of all the higher groups 
as well as of the species, drawn from every stage of life. 
164 species are described, and some account of the early 
stages is given of all but 35 of them, of many far fuller de- 
tails than ever before. 

Two other books published a generation or more ago on 
the insects of limited regions may be mentioned, because 
they gave particular attention to our butterflies. The first f 
was by Emmons, describing such species as he knew from 
New York and giving figures of them. This work con- 
tained a bare description of the perfect butterflies (31 
species), and colored illustrations (occupying the part or 
whole of 6 plates) poorly engraved and colored; it contained 
nothing new and was very poorly executed. It is not now 
of the least value. 

Quite otherwise is the less pretentious but classic work of 
Harris, \ which, though purporting to treat only of injurious 
insects and mainly those of Massachusetts, contained in 
the last edition (to a far less extent in the earlier editions 
of 1841 and 1852) descriptions and figures of a number of 
New England butterflies as defoliators of trees, etc., in- 
cluding descriptions of some new forms ; 54 species are 
described, and, when known, — which was not then the case 
with many, — brief descriptions are given of the earlier 

* The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada. By S. 
H. Scudder. 3 vols. imp. 8vo. Boston, 1889. 44 + 1958 pp., 96 pi., 
of which 41 are colored. 

f The Agriculture of New York, Vol. V. 4to. Albany, 1854. 8 + 
272 pp., 50 pi. 

\ A Treatise on some of the Insects injurious to Vegetation. 3d ed. 
8vo. Boston, 1862. 640 pp., 278 figures, 8 col. pi. 



30 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

stages and full accounts of the habits, perhaps half of the 
text being given up to these latter features. The figures, 
54 of them, are, with 9 exceptions, woodcuts and remark- 
able examples of the woodcutter's art, all being engraved 
by Henry Marsh. 

Two other books of my own may be mentioned here, 
since they deal largely with the life-histories of our butter- 
flies. The first * is based upon a course of lectures upon 
butterflies in general, and has something in particular to 
say about 7-i of our butterflies, with figures illustrative of 
many of them. The other f treats in the fullest possible 
manner of the structure, life-history, distribution, and habits 
of a single butterfly, Anosia plexippus, at every point draw- 
ing comparisons with others, so that it serves in a measure 
as a popular introduction to all. 

Finally, attention may be directed to three or four works 
which deal almost exclusively with thebutterfly stage and 
give descriptions either of all our known species or of all 
found in a definite portion of our country. The first J pre- 
tends to be nothing but a compilation of published de- 
scriptions (many of them translations from the French) 
arranged in a systematic order, preceded by a very meagre 
key to the genera. It contains 240 species, but is now 
quite out of date. 

The second § is an original systematic description of the 

* Butterflies : their Structure, Changes and Life-histories, with spe- 
cial reference to American forms. 12mo. New York, 1881. 10 -f- 
322 pp., 201 figs. 

fThe Life of a Butterfly. 16mo. New York, 1893. 186 pp., 4 
plates. 

\ Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America, Part I. 
Diurnal and Crepuscular Lepidoptera. Compiled by J. G. Morris. 
8vo. Washington, 1862. 27 + 368 pp. 

§ The Butterflies of the Eastern L'nited States, for the use of classes 
in zoology and private students. By G. H. French. 12mo. Phila- 
delphia, 1886. 402 pp., 93 figs. 



SOME WORKS ON AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES. 31 

butterflies of the same region as the present work, but in- 
cluding also the Southern States east of the Mississippi. 
201 species are included in the work, which is preceded by 
an analytical key for the determination of the species, but 
which is largely based on color; the genera are nowhere 
characterized except in this key, and there too vaguely or 
scantily to be of much assistance. The early stages are 
treated of only under the species, the descriptions being 
compiled and condensed from preceding writers. 

The third * is called a manual and covers the whole 
North American field north of Mexico; but it is difficult 
to understand how it can well be used as such, as it con- 
sists of bare descriptions of the species, with scarcely the 
slightest aid to discovering the genera; consequently one 
may have to wade through the whole to find the one sought. 
Its redeeming features are the cuts, which, though very 
rude, are generally confined to some characteristic part, a 
single wing or even a part of a wing. 625 species are 
given, and each of the woodcuts contains several figures. 
The plates are exceedingly poor. No attention whatever 
is paid to the early stages. The work reflects no credit 
upon the author beyond his industry. Nor does an earlier 
work, by the same,f on New England butterflies, in which 
an attempt is made to characterize the genera and higher 
groups and some little attention is given to the caterpillars 
and chrysalids; for the work is so filled with errors as to 
be quite untrustworthy, and the figures so very poor as to 
be available only when the butterfly has little resemblance 
to any other; when most needed they are of least use. 

The histories of our butterflies, however, are by no 



*A Manual of North American Butterflies. By C. J. Maynard. 
8vo. Boston, 1891. 4 + 226 pp., 60 figs., 10 pi. 

fThe Butterflies of New England. 4to. Boston, 1886. 4 + 68 
pp., 8 pi. col. 



32 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

means related only in the works we have mentioned. 
Others are spread broadcast in all manner of places and 
only the diligent student can find them. The greater por- 
tion of these scattered accounts will be found in the mis- 
cellaneous writings of Henry Edwards, W. H. Edwards, 
Fitch, Fletcher, Gosse, Lintner, Riley, Saunders, and 
Scudder; and are particularly to be looked for in the pages 
of the different entomological publications of our country, 
past and present, and especially in the " Canadian Ento- 
mologist," " Psyche," and " Papilio." 



KEYS TO THE VARIOUS GROUPS. 33 



KEYS TO THE VAKIOUS GROUPS. 

In" using the following keys the student has only to keep 
in mind three points : 

1. That there are always two contrasting alternates to 
choose from (occasionally three). 

2. That these alternates are marked by similar initial 
letters, A, B, c, d, etc., and by similar indentation on the 
page, and distinguished by superior numerals, A 1 , B 2 , c 3 , 
etc. 

3. That the contrasting alternate is the nearest line in 
the same set which begins with the same indentation and 
the same initial letter, though with a different numeral. 

For example, in the first table, the A 1 on p. 34 has its 
alternate A 2 , which is a long way off (on p. 42), but is never- 
theless the next line beginning with an A, and it has the 
same indentation, while D 1 on p. 34 is immediately followed 
byD a . 

When alternates relate, one or the other or both of them, 
to tribes or higher groups, an initial capital is prefixed; 
when both refer to genera, or pairs of genera, a small letter 
is prefixed. The final terms are the numbered genera. 

For the explanation of the numbered veins in the first 
table, see the figure on p. 60. 



34 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES 



Key to the Groups, Based ok the Perfect Butterfly. 

A 1 . Antennae near together at base, less than half as far 
apart as the height of the eye, the 
end clubbed but not hooked ; eyes 
with no overarching pencil of bristles. 
B 1 . Resting on four legs only, the fore legs being un- 
used, much shorter than the others, 
without claws at the end, and folded 
against the breast. 

(Fam. Brush-footed Butterflies.) 
C 1 . None of the veins of fore wings swollen at the 



D\ Antennae without any scales. 

(Subfamily Danaids.) 1. Anosia. 
D 2 . Antennae covered, at least above, with numerous 

scales (Subfamily Nymphs.) 

E 1 . Club of antennae short and stout, three or 
more times as broad as the stem, 
more or less abruptly thickened. 
F 1 . Naked portion of club of antennae with only 
a single longitudinal ridge or none. 
G 1 . Club of antennae about three or four times 
as long as broad ; palpi slender, com- 
pact, the last joint from one third to 
one half as long as middle joint. 

(Tribe Crescent-Spots.) 

h 1 . Middle joint of palpi of nearly equal 

size throughout ; fore tibia of male 

stout and swollen, not more than five 

or six times longer than broad. 



KEY TO THE GROUPS— BUTTERFLY. 35 

i 1 . Outer margin of fore wing scarcely 
shorter than the hind margin. 

2. Euphydryas. 

i\ Outer margin of fore wing much 
shorter than the hind margin. 

3. Cinclidia. 
h 2 . Middle joint of palpi tapering consider- 
ably on apical half ; fore tibia of 
male very slender and of equal size 
throughout, at least ten times longer 
than broad. 

i 1 . Last joint of palpi nearly half as long 
as the middle joint ; fore tibia of 
male much shorter than the femur. 
4. Charidryas. 

i 2 . Last joint of palpi less than one third 
as long as the middle joint ; fore 
tibia of male scarcely shorter than 

the femur 5. Pliyciodes. 

Gr 2 . Club of antennae spoon-shaped, about 
twice as long as broad ; palpi large 
and bushy, the last joint extremely 

short (Tribe Fritillaries.) 

h 1 . Vein 2 2 of fore wings arising before the 
end of the cell. 

i 1 . Middle joint of palpi more than three 
fourths longer than the greatest 
length of the eye ...... 7. Argynnis. 

i 2 . Middle joint of palpi only about one 
fourth longer than the greatest 

length of the eye 8. Speyeria. 

h 2 . Vein 2 2 of fore wings arising beyond the 
end of the cell. 

i\ Curve of outer margin of fore wings 
opening outwardly 6. Brenthis. 



36 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

i 2 . Curve of outer margin of fore wings 
opening inwardly ... .9. Euptoieta. 
F\ Naked portion of club of antennae with three 
distinct longitudinal ridges. 

(Tribe Angle-Wings.) 

g 3 . Fore wings rounded in the interspace 

between 2, and 2 2 . 

h 1 . Eyes naked ; conspicuous eye-like spots 

on fore wings above. . .10. Junonia. 

h\ Eyes hairy ; no conspicuous eye-like 

spots on upper surface of fore wings. 

11. Vanessa. 
g 2 . Fore wings sharply angulated in the inter- 
space between 2 1 and 2 2 . 
h\ Basal three fifths of hind wings uni- 
formly dark above ; no silvery comma 
in middle of hind wings beneath. 
i 1 . Hinds wings without spinous hairs on 

under surface 12. Aglais. 

i 2 . Hind wings with numerous straight 
spinous hairs beneath. 

13. Euvanessa. 

h 2 . Basal three fifths of hind wings above 

more or less spotted with black; 

centre of hind wings beneath with a 

white or silvery comma-like mark. 

i 1 . Hind border of fore wings straight. 

14. Eugonia. 
i 2 . Hind border of fore wings strongly 

sinuous 15. Polygonia. 

E 2 . Club of antennae long and slender, hardly 

more than twice as broad as the stem, 

gradually thickened. 

F 1 . Club of antennae with four longitudinal 

ridges on naked portion ; vein of 



KEY TO THE GROUPS-BUTTERFLY. 37 

hind wings arising opposite the part- 
ing of veins 1 and 2. 
(Tribe Sovereigns.) 16. Basilarcliia. 
F\ Club of antennae with three longitudinal 
ridges on naked portion ; vein of 
hind wings arising beyond the part- 
ing of veins 1 and 2. 

(Tribe Emperors.) 
g 1 . Antennas fully as long as the width of the 

fore wings 18. Chlorippe. 

g 2 . Antennae much shorter than the width of 

the fore wings 17. Ancea. 

C\ Some of the veins of the fore wings swollen at the 
base. 

(Subfam. Satyrs or Meadow-Browns.) 
d 1 . Antennae gradually thickened from just beyond 

the middle 19. Cissia. 

d 2 . Antennae gradually thickened only on the apical 
third or fourth. 
e 1 . Eyes hairy. 

f 1 . Tibial spines of middle legs very numerous; 
antennae composed of less than 36 

joints 20. Satyrodes. 

f 2 . Tibial spines of middle legs infrequent; an- 
tennae composed of more than 40 

joints 21. Enodia. 

e 2 . Eyes naked 22. Cercyonis. 

B 2 . Eesting on six legs, the fore legs, however, some- 
times a little shorter and with dimin- 
ished armature, at least in the male. 
C 1 . Of small size. Face between eyes much narrower 
than high ; eyes notched to give 
room for the antennae. 
(Fam. Gossamer-winged Butterflies.) 
P\ Vein 2 3 of fore wings simple; under side of hind 



38 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

wings generally with continuous 

markings (Tribe Hair-Streaks.) 

e 1 . Hind wings without thread-like tails. 

f 1 . Hind wings of very different shape in the two 
sexes, the outer border not crenu- 

late 23. Strymon. 

f \ Hind wings of similar form in the two sexes, 
the outer border crenulate. 

24. Lie is alia. 
e 2 . Hind wings with one or two thread-like tails, 
f \ Interspace of hind wings between veins 4 and 
5 apically lobed ; male with no stigma 

on fore wing 25. Uranotes. 

i \ Interspace of hind wings between veins 4 and 

5 not produced ; male with stigma 

on fore wing above. 

g 1 . Club of antennae comparatively short and 

stout, only five times as long as 

broad 26. Mitura. 

g 2 . Club of antennae comparatively long and 
slender, eight times as long as broad. 

27. Thecla. 
D\ Vein 2 3 of fore wings forked; under side of hind 
wings generally with discontinuous 
markings. 
E 1 . Spines on under side of tarsi comparatively 
few and ranged in pretty regular se- 
ries; colors of upper surface usually 
more or less violet and dark brown. 
(Tribe Blues.) 
f l . Hind wings with thread-like tails. 28. Everes. 

f 2 . Hind wings without tails 29. Cyaniris. 

E 2 , Spines on under side of tarsi numerous and 
clustered irregularly at the sides ; 
colors of upper surface more or less 



KEY TO THE GROUPS— BUTTERFLY. 39 

coppery or fulvous and dark brown. 
(Tribe Coppers.) 
f \ Vein 2 3 of fore wings arising at the tip of the 
cell. 
g 1 . First joint of middle and hind tarsi not 
greatly enlarged in male ; ground 
color of upper surface of fore and 
hind wings the same, or different 
only in the female. 
h 1 . Fore tarsi of male jointed; ground color 
of upper surface of fore and hind 
wings in the female different. 

30. Chrysophanus. 
h 2 . Fore tarsi of male not jointed; ground 
color of upper surface of all wings the 
same in the female. . .31. Epidemia. 
g 2 . First joint of middle and hind tarsi of 
male twice as stout as rest of tar- 
sus ; ground color of all wings above 
the same in both sexes . . 32. Heodes. 
i\ Vein 2 3 of fore wings arising far beyond the 

tip of the cell 33. Feniseca. 

C 2 . Of medium or large size, rarely small. Face be- 
tween eyes as broad as high ; eyes 
not notched next the base of the 
antennae. 

(Family Typical Butterflies.) 
D 1 . Antennae straight ; vein 3 of fore wings with 
three branches; each claw bifid. 

(Subfamily Pierids.) 
E 1 . Antennae generally very gradually increasing 
in size to form the club; palpi stout, 
the last joint short. 

(Tribe Yellows or Red-Horns.) 



40 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

f. Club of antennae cylindrical, broadly 
rounded at tip. 
g 1 . Middle joint of palpi but little longer 

than broad 34. Callidryas. 

g 2 . Middle joint of palpi fully twice as long 
as broad. 
h 1 . Vein 2 2 of fore wings arising at the tip 
of the cell ; front margin of fore 
wings very strongly arched. 

35. Zerene. 

h 2 . Vein 2' 2 of fore wings arising beyond 

the tip of the cell ; front margin of 

fore wings only moderately arched. 

36. Eurymus. 

f\ Club of antennae distinctly flattened, the 

last joint more or less pointed. 

g 1 . Club of antennae very gradually formed 

and several times longer than broad. 

h 1 . Hind femora only about three fifths as 

long as the middle femora. 

37. Xanthidia. 
h\ Hind femora about three fourths as 
long as the middle femora. 

38. Eurema. 
g\ Club of antennae abruptly formed, hardly 
more than twice as long as broad. 

39. Nathalis. 
E 2 . Antennae with an abrupt broad flattened 
club; palpi slender, the last joint 
about as long as the middle joint. 
F 1 . Vein 2 3 of fore wings forked near the mid- 
dle ; middle tibiae shorter than 

femora (Tribe 

Orange Tips.) 40. Antlweliaris. 






KEY TO THE GROUPS— BUTTERFLY. 41 

F\ Vein 2 3 of fore wings forked only at the 
tip; middle tibiae at least as long as 
the femora. (Tribe Whites.) 

g 1 . Vein 2 2 of fore wings arising at or beyond 
the tip of the cell; fore tibiae very 
much shorter than middle tibiae. 

41. Pontia. 
g 2 Vein 2 2 of fore wings arising distinctly 
before the tip of the cell; fore and 
middle tibiae of equal length. 

42. Pieris. 
D 2 . Antennae more or less arched; vein 3 of fore 
wings with four branches; each 
claw simple. 

(Subfamily Swallow-Tails.) 
e 1 . Club of antennae nearly straight, almost im- 
perceptibly upcurved ; tip of abdo- 
men almost reaching emargination 

of hind wings 43. Laertias. 

e 2 . Club of antennae curved strongly upward 
throughout; tip of abdomen not 
nearly reaching emargination of 
hind wings. 
f 1 . Club of antennae relatively short; hind 
wings, exclusive of tails, nearly 
twice as long as broad. 

44. Ipliiclides. 

f 2 . Club of antennae relatively long ; hind 

wings, exclusive of tails, hardly more 

than half as long again as broad. 

g 1 . Fore tibiae decidedly shorter than the 

tarsi ; tails of hind wings broadened 

at the end. 

h 1 . Vein 4 of hind wings nearly straight; 

vein 2 4 of fore wings arising at about 



42 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

one third the distance from the tip 
of the cell to the apex of the wing. 

i 1 . Vein closing the cell of hind wings 
and connecting veins 2 and 3 not 
much shorter than the short vein 
above it ; no transverse stripes on 
upper side of fore wings. 

45. Jasoniacles. 

i 2 . Vein closing the cell of hind wings 
and connecting veins 2 and 3 less 
than half as long as the short vein 
above it ; transverse stripes on upper 
side of fore wings ... 46. Uuphoeades. 
h\ Vein 4 of hind wings strongly sinuous; 
vein 2 4 of fore wings arising at much 
less than one third the distance from 
the tip of the cell to the apex of the 

wing 47. Heraclides. 

g\ Fore tibiae decidedly longer than the 
tarsi ; tails of hind wings not broad- 
ened at the end 48. Pajrilio. 

A 2 . Antennas distant at base, more than half as far apart 
as the height of the eye, the tip of 
the club more or less distinctly 
pointed and recurved; eyes usually 
overhung next antennae with a curv- 
ing pencil of bristly hairs. 

(Family Skippers.) 

B 1 . Recurved part of antennal club nearly or quite as 

long as the thicker part; abdomen 

generally shorter than the hind 

wings (Tribe Larger Skippers.) 

c 1 . Hind wings tailed or distinctly angulate at the tip 
of vein 4; vein 3 1 arising hardly or 
no nearer the base of the hind wing 



KEY TO THE GROUPS-BUTTERFLY. 43 

than 2 1 ; club of antennae abruptly 
bent in the middle. 
d 1 . Hind wings with a distinct tail or tooth at tip of 

vein 4 49. Epargyrens. 

d 2 . Hind wings merely broadly angulate at tip of 

vein 4 50. Tliorybes. 

c\ Hind wings regularly rounded at tip of vein 4 as 

elsewhere; vein 3 1 arising much 

nearer the base of the wing than 2\; 

club of antennae curved throughout. 

d 1 . Club of antennae generally ending in a long-drawn 

point; if not, the antennae half as 

long as the fore wing. .51. Thanaos. 

d\ Club of antennae tapering but little on apical 

half, the tip bluntly pointed, the 

w T hole antenna less than half as long 

as the fore wing. 

e 1 . Club of antennae six or seven times as long as 

broad, tapering from the middle 

equally in both directions. 

52. Pliolisora. 

e 2 . Club of antennae not more than four or five 

times as long as broad, tapering more 

rapidly from the middle toward the 

tip than in the opposite direction. 

53. Hesperia. 
B 2 . Recurved part of antennal club brief as compared 
with the thicker part, occasionally 
absent; abdomen reaching to or be- 
yond the outer margin of the hind 

wing (Tribe Smaller Skippers.) 

c 1 . Club of antennae with no apical hook. 

54. Ancyloxiplia. 
c\ Club of antennae with a distinct, though some- 
times slight, apical hook. 



44 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

d 1 . Hind tarsi shorter than, though sometimes nearly 

equal in length to, the middle tarsi. 

e 1 . Hook of antennal club as long as the width of 

the club • 55. Atrytone. 

e\ Hook of antennal club shorter, generally much 

shorter, than the width of the club. 

f\ Cell of fore wings two thirds as long as the 

wing 56. Fry nnis. 

f 2 . Cell of fore wings only about three fifths as 
long as the wing. 
g\ First joint of palpi greatly expanded at 
tip; middle and hind tibiae conspic- 
uously spined on the upper surface 

as elsewhere 57. Anthomaster. 

g*. First joint of palpi not expanded at tip; 
middle and hind tibiae with no con- 
spicuous spines on upper surface. 

58. Polites. 
d 2 . Hind tarsi longer than the middle tarsi. 

e 1 . Cell of fore wings only three fifths as long as 

the wing 59. Thymelicus. 

e 2 . Cell of fore wings nearly two thirds as long as 
the wing 60. Limochores. 



KEY TO THE GROUPS— CATERPILLAR. 45 



Key to the Groups, based on the Caterpillar. 

A 1 . Head and body not separated by a strongly and ab- 
ruptly strangled neck. 
B 1 . Body generally covered with spines; when naked or 
merely covered with pile, either the 
head is tuberculate, or the last seg- 
ment ends in a fork, or the body 
joints are crossed by not more than 
three creases. 

(Family Brush-footed Butterflies.) 
C 1 . Last segment entire, rounded. 
D 1 . Body with no spines. 

e 1 . Body furnished with a few long fleshy fila- 
ments. 

(Subfamily Danaids.) 1. Anosia. 

e\ Body covered with pile only IT. Ancea. 

D 2 . Body covered with spines. 

(Most of Subfamily Nymphs.) 
E\ Body uniform, with uniform series of taper- 
ing spines. 
F\ Spines more like tubercles, leathery, not 
horny, their sides crowded with 
needles, no one at tip distinguished 
from the others. 

(Tribe Crescent-Spots.) 
g 1 . Body distinctly tapering in front, cross- 
striped on all but the front seg- 
ments. 



46 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

h 1 . A tubercle just below the spiracle-line 
on the third thoracic segment.* 

2. Euphydryas. 
h 2 . No tubercle just below the spiracle-line 
on the third thoracic segment. 

3. Cinclidia. 
g\ Body scarcely tapering in front, striped 
longitudinally. 
h 1 . Tubercles slender, tapering but little, 
three times as high as broad. 

4. Charidryas. 
h. 2 Tubercles stout, conical, less than twice 

as high as broad 5. Pliyciodes. 

F 2 . Spines horny, their sides supporting scat- 
tered needles, one at tip crowning 
the whole. 
G 1 . No spines along the middle line of the 

back (Tribe Fritillaries.) 

h 1 . Spines only about half as long as the 

joints of the body 6. Brentliis. 

h 2 . Spines fully as long as the joints of the 
body. 
i 1 . All the spines of upper row equal or 
subequal and like the rest. 

7. Argynnis. 
i 2 . Most of the upper spines of ab- 
dominal segments a little longer 
than the rest, the others nearly 

equal 8. Speyeria. 

i 3 . Upper spines of first thoracic segment 
longer than the rest and distinctly 
enlarged at tip, the others equal. 

9. Euptoieta. 

* There is. of course no spiracle on this segment ; the spiracle-line 
may be determined by comparing those of the segments next suc- 
ceeding. 



KEY TO THE GROUPS— CATERPILLAR. 47 

G\ Some spines on the middle line of the 
back, especially on the seventh or 
eighth abdominal segment. 

(Tribe Angle-Wings.) 

h 1 . Head with no conspicuous spines above. 

i\ Second abdominal segment with a 

spine on the middle line of the back. 

j\ First abdominal segment with a 

similar spine 11. Vanessa. 

j\ First abdominal segment with no 

similar spine 12. Aglais. 

i\ Second abdominal segment with no 
spine on middle line above. 

13. Euvanessa. 

h 2 . Head crowned with prominent spines. 

i 1 . Spinules of body spines not arranged 

in a stellate manner. 

j 1 . Spines of thoracic segments with 

spinules throughout . . .10. Junonia. 

j 2 . Spines of thoracic segments with no 

spinules on basal half. 14. Eugonia. 

i\ Spinules of body spines arranged in a 

stellate manner 15. Polygonia. 

E\ Body hunched, with irregularly-developed 
series of tubercles. 
(Tribe Sovereigns.) 16. Basilarchia. 
C\ Last segment bifurcate. 

D 1 . Head crowned by a branching appendage. 

18. Chlorippe. 
D 2 . No coronal spines, or else simple ones on the 
head. 

(Subfam. Satyrs or Meadow-Browns.) 
e 1 . Head with coronal spines or tubercles. 
f\ Coronal spines slight and inconspicuous. 

19. Cissia. 
i\ Coronal spines nearly as long as the head. 



48 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

g 1 . Head slender and, including the spines, 
twice as high as broad. 

20. Satyrodcs. 

g\ Head stout and, including the spines, half 

as high again as broad.. 21. Enodia. 

e a . Head uniformly rounded above 22. Cercyonis. 

B a . Body never furnished with spines; the joints crossed 

by more than three creases, the last 

joint never forked. 

C 1 . Body oval and slug-shaped, flattened beneath, 

rarely almost cylindrical, with very 

small head. 

(Fam. Gossamer-w T inged Butterflies.) 
D 1 . Head not one fourth, sometimes not one sixth, 
the width of the body; dorsal shield 
behind head wanting or covered with 
hairs like the parts about it. 

(Tribe Blues.) 
e 1 . Last segment of body broad and greatly flat- 
tened 28. Everes. 

e\ Last segment of body comparatively slender 

and less flattened 29. Cyaniris. 

D 2 . Head generally at least one third the width of 
the body; dorsal shield behind head 
distinct and naked or covered with 
many fewer hairs than the parts 
about it. 
E 1 . Segments of body highest next hind edge, or 
at least with the hinder slope the 
more abrupt. Head capable of im- 
mense extension. 

(Tribe Hair-Streaks.*) 

* The genera of this group are not sufficiently known to give a 
key to them. 



KEY TO THE GROUPS— CATERPILLAB. 49 

E\ Segments of body highest next front edge, or 

with the front slope the more abrupt. 

Head not capable of special extension. 

f\ Body flattened, covered with short hairs 

uniformly distributed. 30. Chryso- 

plianas. 31. Epidemics 32. Heodes. 

f 2 . Body hardly flattened, covered with long 

hairs arranged in transverse masses. 

33. Feniseca. 

C 2 . Body cylindrical or enlarged in front, with head of 

ordinary size. 

(Family Typical Butterflies.) 
D 1 . Back of head descending from summit ; body 
with numerous papillae and no scent- 
organs (Subfamily Pierids.) 

E 1 . Papillae (supporting hairs) nearly equal in 
size, or if not, the larger ones are 
numerous and distinctly arranged 
in transverse and not longitudinal 
series on the abdominal segments. 
(Tribe Yellows or Eed -Horns.) 
f\ No anterior process on first thoracic seg- 
ment, above. 
g 1 . Papillae (supporting hairs) elevated, dis- 
tinctly higher than broad. 
h 1 . Papillae of two sizes, the larger ar- 
ranged in definite transverse rows. 
34. Callidryas. 
h 2 . Papillae of nearly uniform size with no 
definite transverse arrangement. 
i 1 . Largest papillae on head larger than 

largest ocelli 37. XantMdia. 

i 2 . Largest papillae on head smaller than 
largest ocelli 38. Eurema. 



50 1HE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

g\ Papillae (supporting hairs) mere raised 
points, not distinctly higher than 
broad. 
h 1 . A shining lenticle just above the spir- 
acle-line on second and third tho- 
racic segments 35. Zerene. 

h 2 . No shining lenticle just above the spir- 
acle-line 36. Eurymus. 

f 2 . A pair of anterior processes on first thoracic 

segment above 39. Nathalis. 

E 2 . Papillae (supporting hairs) of unequal size, 
the larger arranged in longitudinal 
as well as sometimes in transverse 
series on the abdominal segments, 
F 1 . Body slender ; head much broader than 
high. 

(Tr. Orange Tips.) 40. Anthocharis. 

F s . Body less slender ; head scarcely or not 

broader than high , . (Tribe Whites.) 

g 1 . Larger hair-bearing papillae broader than 

high 41. Pontia. 

g 2 . Larger hair-bearing papillae higher than 

broad 42. Pieris. 

D 2 . Back of head with no descent from summit; 
body almost naked, with exceedingly 
few papillae and with scent-organs 
which can be tjirust out of the seg- 
ment behind the head. 

(Subfamily Swallow-Tails.) 
e 1 . Body with long fleshy filaments on the sides, 

43. Laertias. 
e 2 . Body with no permanent fleshy filaments, 
f \ Hinder thoracic segments noticeably larger 
than the next succeeding segments. 



KEY TO THE G BO UPS— CATERPILLAR 51 

g\ Third thoracic segment with no transverse 
ridge above. 
h 1 . Middle of third thoracic segment with- 
out markings 44. Iphiclides. 

h 2 . Middle of third thoracic segment with 
a pair of eye-like spots. 
i\ First abdominal segment with no 
large bright patches above. 

45. Jasoniades. 
i\ First abdominal segment with a pair 
of bright patches above, nearly as 
large as the eye-like spots in front. 
46. Euphceades. 
g 2 . Third thoracic segment with a trans- 
verse dorsal ridge. . .47. Heraclides. 
f 2 . Hinder thoracic segments scarcely larger 
than the succeeding segments. 

48. Papilio. 
\ Head and body separated by a strongly and abruptly 
strangled neck . . (Family Skippers.) 
B\ Body comparatively stout ; upper half of head as 
seen from in front rounded or quad- 
rangular. . . (Tribe Larger Skippers.) 
c\ Head at least as high as broad, the highest point of 
each hemisphere lying within the 
middle line of that hemisphere; 
dorsal shield obvious. 
d 1 . Papillae of body inconspicuous except from col- 
oring, 49. Epargyreus. 

d 2 . Papillae of body conspicuous, giving a granulat- 
ed appearance 50. Thoryhes. 

c 2 . Head distinctly broader than high, the highest 
point of each hemisphere at or out- 
side the middle line of that hemi- 



52 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

sphere: dorsal shield inconspicuous 

except sometimes at hinder edge. 

d 1 . Head as seen from in front angulated at upper 

outer corners ; hairs of head simple. 

51. Tlianaos. 

d 2 . Head regularly rounded at upper outer corners; 

hairs of head branching. 

e 1 . None of the hairs on abdominal segments 

longer than the shorter sections of 

those segments 52. Plwlisora. 

e\ Among the hairs on abdominal segments are 
some serially arranged which are 
much longer than the sections of 

those segments 53, Hesperia. 

B 2 . Body very elongated ; upper half of head as seen 
from in front tapering above. 

(Tribe Smaller Skippers.) 
c 1 . Head pyramidal, much higher than broad, the 
front facing upward when at rest. 

54. Ancyloxipha. 
c\ Head more or less rounded, the front facing for- 
ward when at rest. 

[The further analysis of the genera of Smaller Skippers 
can hardly be attempted with our present slight informa- 
tion about them.] 



KEY TO TEE GROUPS-CHRYSALIS. 53 



Key to the Groups, based ox the Chrysalis. 

A 1 . More or less angulated or with projecting shoulders, 
or if smooth and rounded, then very 
short and stout, the thoracic spiracle 
inconspicuous. Not concealed in a 
cocoon. 
B 1 . Hanging by the tail only, or else with no hooks at 
the tail to hang by. 
(Family Brush-footed Butterflies.) 
C 1 . With generally numerous conspicuous prominences. 

(Subfamily Nymphs.) 
D 1 . Head forming a single mass with the thorax. 

(Tribe Crescent-Spots.) 
e 1 . A tubercle on second abdominal segment just 
above the spiracle-line. 
f 1 . Tubercles of eighth abdominal segment 
nearly as prominent as on the pre- 
ceding segment 2. Eupliydryas. 

f\ No distinct tubercles, but only dark spots 
on eighth abdominal segment, 

3. Cinclidia. 

e 2 . No tubercle just above spiracle-line on second 

abdominal segment. 

f\ No distinct ridge uniting tubercles of fourth 

abdominal segment. .4. Charidryas. 

f 2 . A distinct ridge uniting tubercles of fourth 

abdominal segment. . .5. Phyciodes. 

D\ Head projecting independently beyond the 

thorax. 



54 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

E 1 . Base of wings marked by a pair of tubercles. 
F ] . Tail-piece short and stout. 

(Tribe Fritillaries.) 
g 1 . Upper row of tubercles on abdominal seg- 
ments distinctly unequal in size. 

6. Brenthis. 
g 2 . Upper row of tubercles on abdominal seg- 
ments equal in size. 
h 1 . Front of head between the smooth 
crescents tuberculate at the side. 

7. Argynnis. 8. Speyeria. 
h 2 . Front of head between the smooth 
crescents regularly arched. 

9. Euptoieta. 
F 2 . Tail-piece long, slender, and tapering. 

(Tribe Angle- Wings.) 
g 1 . Ocellar tubercles blunt and rounded. 
h 1 . Eidge following upper margin of wings 
blunt, the dentations rounded. 

10. Junonia. 
h 2 . Eidge following upper margin of wings 

sharp, the dentations pointed. 

11. Vanessa. 
g 2 . Ocellar tubercles pointed. 

h 1 . No tubercle on middle line of second 
abdominal segment.. 13. Euvanessa. 
h 2 . A small tubercle on middle line of 
second abdominal segment. 
i 1 . Middle prominence of thorax moder- 
ate, almost uniformly tectate. 

12. Aglais. 
i 2 . Middle prominence of thorax large 
and compressed, at least at tip. 
j\ Tubercle just above spiracle-line on 



KEY TO THE GROUPS- CHRYSALIS. 55 

eighth abdominal segment scarcely 

perceptible 14. Eugonia. 

j\ Tubercle just above spiracle-line on 
eighth abdominal segment minute 

but distinct 15. Polygonia. 

E 2 . Base of wings marked by only a single tuber- 
cle. 
F 1 . Middle prominence of thorax very high and 
strongly compressed. 
(Tribe Sovereigns.) 16. Basilarchia. 
F\ Middle prominence of thorax not highly 

developed (Tribe Emperors.) 

g 1 . Abdomen transversely ridged on the 
fourth segment, with no longitudinal 

ridge 17. Ancea. 

g\ Abdomen longitudinally ridged along the 
middle of the back, with no trans- 
verse ridge .18. Chloripjpe. 

C 2 . With no conspicuous prominences. 

D 1 . Back of abdomen with a transverse series of 
tubercles. 

(Subfamily Danaids.) 1. Anosia. 
D 2 . Back of abdomen with no transverse series of 
tubercles. 

(Subfam. Satyrs or Meadow-Browns.) 
e 1 . Front and lower planes of head forming less 
than a right angle. 
f 1 . Abdomen with a pair of distinct longitudi- 
nal ridges 19. Cissia. 

f 2 . Abdomen with no longitudinal ridges. 
g 1 . Abdomen beyond tip of wings as long as 

the wings 20. Satyrodes. 

g 2 . Abdomen beyond tip of wings shorter 
than the wings 21. Enodia. 



56 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

e 2 . Front and lower planes of head not forming 
less than a right angle. 

22. Cercyonis. 

B 2 . Fastened around the middle by a silken sling as well 

as by the tail. 

C 1 . Body stout, short, and with all projections 

rounded, the front end broadly 

rounded. 

(Fam. Gossamer-winged Butterflies.) 
D 1 . Hair-like appendages of the skin cylindrical, 
pointed, or else stellate at tip. 
E 1 . These appendages tapering only at tip, the 
abdomen rarely more than half as 
long again as broad. 

(Tribe Hair-Streaks.*) 
f 1 . A delicate ridge along middle of thorax. 

24. Lie is alia, 
f 2 . No distinct ridge along middle of thorax. 
g 1 . Abdomen much wider than thorax. 

h 1 . Longest hairs nearly half as long as 

segments of abdomen. . 25. TJranotes. 

h 2 . Longest hairs not one fourth the length 

of abdominal segments. 26. Mitura. 

g a . Abdomen scarcely wider than thorax. 

27. Thecla. 
E 2 . These appendages tapering throughout or 
stellate at tip, the abdomen gener- 
ally almost twice as long as broad. 
(Tribe Blues.) 
f \ Body much more than three times as long 

as broad 28. Everes. 

f\ Body much less than three times as long as 
broad 29. Cyaniris. 

* Chrysalis of Strynion not examined. 



KEY TO THE GROUPS-CHRYSALIS. 57 

D 3 . Hair-like appendages of the skin short, mush- 
room-shaped (Tribe Coppers.*) 

e 1 . Abdomen rounded, the last segments not sepa- 
rately protuberant. 
f\ Only the lower half of ninth abdominal seg- 
ment sloping forward. 

30. Clirysoplianus. 
f 2 . The whole of ninth abdominal segment 

sloping forward 32. Heodes. 

'e\ Abdomen with irregular surface, the hind 

segments protruding and expanded. 

33. Feniseca. 

C 2 . Body elongate with angular projections, the front 

with one or tw r o projecting tubercles. 

D 1 . Front end with a single conical projection or 

rounded prominence. 

(Subfamily Pierids.) 
E 1 . Wing-cases distinctly protuberant below the 
general under surface of the body. 
F 1 . The head well distinguished from the frontal 
projection. 

(Tribe Yellows or Ked Horns.) f 

g 1 . Ventral protuberance of wings doubling 

the depth of the body. 

h 1 . Fourth abdominal segment with a 

distinct sharp ridge along the sides. 

34. Ccdlidryas. 

h\ Fourth abdominal segment with no 

distinct ridge 37. Xanthidea. 

g 2 . Ventral protuberance of wings not 
doubling the depth of the body. 
h\ Frontal process slender, acuminate. 

38. Eurema. 

* Chrysalis of Epidemia unknown, 
f Excepting Nathalis. 



58 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

h\ Frontal process blunt, angulate. 

35. Zerene. 36. Eurymus. 
F 2 . Head insensibly merging into the frontal 
process. 
G 1 . Head with no marked projection. 

39. Natlialis. 

G\ Head with an excessively long frontal 

projection. 

(Tribe Orange Tips.) 40. Anthocharis. 

E 2 . Wing-cases scarcely protuberant below the 

general under surface of the body. 

(Tribe Whites.) 

f 1 . Frontal process stout, no longer than broad. 

41. Pontia. 
f 2 . Frontal process slender, very much longer 

than broad 42. Pieris. 

D 2 . Front end with two projecting tubercles. 

(Subfamily Swallow-Tails.) 

e 1 . Surface of body except the large projections 

tolerably smooth. 

f. Distinct ridges along the sides of abdomen 

above. 

g 1 . Abdomen greatly expanded next the base. 

43. Laertias. 
g\ Abdomen gently enlarged in the middle. 

44. Iphiclides. 
f 2 . JSTo ridges along sides of abdomen above. 

46. Euplimades. 
e 2 . Surface of body very much roughened. 

f 1 . Under surface of body, as seen from the 

side, hardly bent. . . 45. Jasoniades. 

f. Under surface of body, as seen from the 

side, strongly bent. 

g 1 . Base of antennae with a distinct tubercle. 

47. Heraclides. 



KEY TO THE GROUPS— CHRYSALIS. 59 

g 2 . Base of antennae with no tubercle. 

48. Papilio. 
A 2 . Smooth and rounded, elongate, the thoracic spiracle 
conspicuous. Concealed in a co- 
coon (Family Skippers.) 

B 1 . Tongue-case not free, not extending beyond the 

wings (Tribe Larger Skippers.) 

c 1 . Abdomen exclusive of tail-piece no longer than the 
rest of the body. 
d 1 . Thoracic spiracle with no posterior elevated 

flaring lip 49. Epargyreus. 

d\ Thoracic spiracle with a posterior elevated flar- 
ing lip 50. Thorybes. 

c\ Abdomen exclusive of tail-piece longer than the 
rest of the body. 
d 1 . Hinder lip of thoracic spiracle scarcely raised, 

not flaring 51. Thanaos. 

d 2 . Hinder lip of thoracic spiracle much elevated, 
flaring, fluted. 
e 1 . The hinder equal part of tail-piece, seen from 
above, scarcely longer than broad. 

52. Pliolisora. 
e\ The hinder equal part of tail-piece, seen from 
above, twice as long as broad. 

53. Hesperia. 
B\ Tongue-case free at tip, extending beyond, some- 
times much beyond, the wings. 

(Tribe Smaller Skippers.) 

[The genera of Smaller Skippers are too little known to 
separate them by their chrysalids. ] 



NOMENCLATURE OF THE PARTS OF THE WING. 




Neuration of Anosia plexippus. 



cm . . 


. . .costal margin. 


pc 


(0) .. 


. . . precostal vein. 


om. . . 


. ..outer margin. 


c 


(D... 


. . costal vein. 


im... 


...inner margin. 


sc 


(2)... 


...subcostal vein. 


dc 


. . . discoidal cell. 


m 
sm 


(3)... 

(4)... 


...median vein. 
. ..submedian vein 


aa... 


...anal angle. 


i 


(5)... 


.. internal vein. 



60 



NOMENCLATURE OF HIE PARTS OF THE WING. 61 

The veins may for conciseness, as in our " Key to the 
Groups," be numbered from above downward from to 5 
as in their explanation above, and their branches may be 
further indicated by adding to the number one which shall 
designate whether it is the first branch, second branch, etc., 
and also whether it is thrown off from the upper or under 
edge. Thus the branches striking the margin of the fore 
wing in the above figure, beginning above, would have this 
consecutive designation : 1, 2 1 , 2 2 , 2 3 , 2 4 , 2, 2 l9 2 2 , 3 3 , 3 2 , 3 X , 4 
(the internal running into the submedian) ; while those of 
the hind wing (including the postcostal, which does not 
quite reach the margin) would be : 0, 1, 2 1 , 2 2 , 2% 3 3 , 3^3^ 4, 
5. In this way equivalent nervules of the two wings, or of 
the same wings in different butterflies, would have a similar 
symbol. 



THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES 

OF THE 

NORTHERN UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 

Subfamily Dastaids. 

1. Genus Anosia. 

ANOSIA PLEXIPPUS— THE MONARCH OR MILK-WEED 
BUTTERFLY. 

(Danais archippus, Danais erippus.) 

Butterfly. — Wings above and fore wings beneath rather light 
tawny brown, the veins margined with black, and the wings 
broadly margined with the same enlivened by a double row of 
small whitish spots; besides, all the apex of the fore wings is 
more or less black, but contains two or three dashes of obscure 
tawny and, just beyond the cell, a couple of oblique series of 
large buff-tawny spots, those nearest the front margin smaller, 
elongate, and white. Beneath, the ground color of the hind 
wings is buff, and the black veins are edged with some whitish 
scales. The male is distinguished by a conspicuous thickened 
black patch (really a pocket containing special scales) next one of 
the veins near the middle of the hind wings. Expanse 4 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head smooth and rounded, yellow, conspicuously 
banded with black. Body cylindrical, tapering a little in front, 

63 



64 TEE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

naked, but with two pairs of long and very slender black thread- 
like filaments, one pair, the longer, on the second thoracic, the 
other on the eighth abdominal, segment. The body is white with 
numerous slender black and yellow, and especially black, trans- 
verse stripes, repeated with considerable regularity on each of 
the segments, so that there are nowmere any broad patches of 
color. Length nearly 2 inches. 

Chrysalis. — Pea-green. Stout and not elongated, largest in 
the middle of the abdomen, where it is transversely ridged; else- 
where it is smooth and rounded, with no striking prominences, 
but with little conical projections at most of the elevated points 
like those which half encircle the body at the abdominal ridge, 
all of a golden color except the latter, wmich are situated in a 
tri-colored band, black in front, nacreous in the middle (these 
dividing the points between them), and gilt behind. Length 
more than 1 inch. 

We begin w T ith one of the most interesting of our butter- 
flies, about which a volume might be written, but of which 
we have still much to learn. It is found in the summer- 
time over almost the entire continent, certainly as far north 
as into the Dominion of Canada; and yet it is probable 
that it does not exist in the winter further north than the 
Gulf States. It has extraordinary powers of flight, more 
so than any known butterfly, and every autumn when 
abundant (after first collecting in vast flocks or bevies of 
hundreds of thousands, changing the color of the trees or 
shrubs on which it alights for the night) migrates south- 
ward in streams, like our migrating birds. After passing 
the winter on the wing, without so far as known hibernat- 
ing in torpiditj^, it leaves its winter quarters in the extreme 
south with the opening spring and flies northward, not in 
flocks or streams, but singly. The females lay their eggs 
when they are ripe wherever they may chance to be, some 
flying even as far as southern New T York and Minnesota 
before concluding their life-duties. The caterpillars born 
from these eggs develop into butterflies, many of which 
again fly northward before they lay their eggs; while the 



FAMILY BBTJSILFOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 65 

butterflies developing from these last do not lay eggs the 
same season (unless possibly in the warmer south), but 
migrate southward at the end of the season, to return again 
the next spring. North, therefore, of the farthest points 
to which the wintering butterflies have journeyed in the 
spring, there appears to be but one brood a year, south of 
it two, and in the extreme south possibly more. 

As a further proof of the transcendent powers of flight 
of this butterfly, it may be mentioned that it has been 
seen at sea five hundred miles from land and has within 
thirty years spread over nearly all the islands of the 
Pacific and even to Australia and Java. Undoubtedly 
carried in the first place by trading or other vessels to 
the Hawaiian Islands and thence to Micronesia, it has un- 
questionably floiun from island to island many hundreds 
of miles apart. It has also appeared at various times 
in different places on the sea-coast of Europe, here also 
probably transported accidentally by vessel. In 1885, for 
instance, no less than nine specimens were captured in 
four different counties of England, and in 1886 it w T as 
reported at different points from England to Gibraltar. 

The egg is long oval in shape, with over twenty low up- 
right ridges and many cross lines, is of a pale green color, 
and is laid singly on the food-plant of the caterpillar 
(various kinds of milk-weed, especially the commonest 
kind, Asclepias cornuti) and usually upon the under sur- 
face of the tender upturned apical leaves near the middle. 
It hatches in about four days, the caterpillar feeds quite 
exposed upon the leaves, generally resting, however, upon 
the under surface, and takes two or three weeks to grow 
to its full size. In New England the eggs are usually laid 
during July, and belated caterpillars may be found even 
in September. The chrysalis hangs from nine to fifteen 
days. 

But the chief interest attaching to this butterfly is that 



66 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

it belongs to a favored race, as, like all the members of its 
tribe, it is protected from its natural enemies among the 
birds by some nauseous peculiarities. The males can pro- 
trude from the end of the abdomen on either side a bunch 
or brush of hairs which may be the means of producing an 
offensive smell; but besides this the whole body of both 
sexes seems to have a rank odor, and its protection is the 
cause of its unconscious mimicry by another of our butter- 
flies, Basilarchia archippus. It is the best example of 
mimicry known in North America. 



The subfamily of Heliconians is represented in the southern part 
of our district by the genus Agraulis, with one species, A. mnillae, 
a southern species which has occasionally been taken as far north as 
Pennsylvania. 

Subfamily Nymphs. 

TRIBE CRESCENT-SPOTS. 

2. Genus Euphydryas. 

EUPHYDRYAS PHAETON— THE BALTIMORE. 

(Melitaea phaeton.) 

Butterfly. — Wings black, marked with red and pale straw- 
yellow, the markings larger on the under than on the upper sur- 
face ; the red is confined to two or three spots (more below) near 
the base of each wing and to a broad outer margin, divided by 
the black veins ; the yellow mostly to four parallel series (two on 
the upper surface of hind wings) of small round or squarish spots 
(the outer row lunulate) between the veins in the outer half of 
the wing, before the marginal band. Expanse of male 2 inches; 
of female 2^ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black with low conical summits. Body 
spined, dark orange transversely ringed w r ith black lines, the 
thoracic segments tapering, mostly black ; spines bluish black, 
about as long as the segments with numerous long black bristles y 
set on papillae ; there is a dorsal series, two others on each side 
equally dividing the space between that and the spiracles, and one 






FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 67 

other below the spiracles, including one on the third thoracic seg- 
ment ; a row of smaller spines, two to a segment, occurs at the 
base of the prolegs. Length 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Very pale bluish white, marked with velvety black 
and pale orange ; little conical orange tubercles mark the position 
of the spines of the caterpillar, black dots or small dashes are 
sprinkled over the body especially on the abdomen, and larger 
dashes divided by orange nervules cross the middle of the wings 
in a continuous series. Legs orange marked with black. Tubercles 
of eighth abdominal segment distinct. Length nearly f inch. 

The eggs are largest below, taper above to a very broad 
and depressed summit, the sides vertically ribbed on upper 
half, at first yellow, afterwards purplish; they are laid in 
large irregular clusters, several layers deep, upon the under 
surface of a leaf of the food-plant, and hatch in about 
twenty days. During the season in which they are born 
the caterpillars feed in society, living in a web with which 
they line and envelop their food-plant, the snake-head, 
Chelone glabra, and less commonly other Scrophulariaceous 
plants. After moulting three times, which the caterpillars 
do under and within their w^ebs, the whole colony hiber- 
nates within the web, made more dense for the purpose, 
which, contracting as the winter dries the foliage, becomes 
a compact rounded mass as large as an egg, filled with 
caterpillars, cast skins, and filth. In the spring the cater- 
pillars make their way out, disperse, and no longer con- 
struct webs but feed openly, frequently choosing other food- 
plants, Lonicera or Viburnum, Caprifoliaceous plants. 
The chrysalis hangs from fourteen to eighteen days. The 
butterfly is extremely local, often confining its wanderings 
to an acre of ground, and is only found near or in swampy 
places ; it flies heavily — indeed it is our most sluggish but- 
terfly — and is single-brooded, appearing early in June and 
flying for more than a month. 



68 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

3. Genus Cinclidia. 
CINCLIDIA HARRISII— HARRIS'S BUTTERFLY. 

(Melitaea liarrisii, Phyciodes liarrisii.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings nearly black, the fore 
wings with a broad sinuous band of dull orange across the middle 
broken by the black veins, followed outwardly by a sinuous row 
of similar unequal spots and inwardly by a few irregular orange 
spots ; hind wings with most of the disk dull orange, begrimed 
with black and cut by black veins. Under surface brownish 
orange, the veins mostly black, marked with usually black-edged 
white spots, conspicuous on the hind wings where the median 
spots are sordid cut by a black line, the subbasal and lunular 
subapical spots shining. Expanse If inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head shining black, summits tuberculate and 
low conical. Body spined, tapering on the thoracic segments, 
deep orange with a black dorsal line, and ringed narrowly with 
black stripes throughout ; spines jet-black, a little shorter than 
the segments, covered with black needles set on papillae ; they 
are arranged as in Euphydryas excepting that there is no spine 
on the third thoracic segment in the row just below the spiracles. 
Length nearly 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Snow-white, marked much as in Euphydryas 
phaeton, but with the darker markings mostly confined to edgings 
of the orange tubercles. Legs white tipped with black. No dis- 
tinct tubercles on the eighth abdominal segment, but their place 
marked by spots. Length ^ inch. 

The eggs, which are shaped as in Euphydryas but w r ith a 
smaller summit, are pale lemon-yellow and are laid in 
patches of twenty or more in a closely-crowded single layer 
on the under side of a leaf of the food-plant; their period 
in unknown. So far as known, the caterpillars have but a 
single food-plant, Aster {DoeUingeria) innbellatus. They 
first eat the parenchyma of the under surface of the leaf on 
which they are born and then move in company down the 
plant, devouring the parenchyma of each surface of every 
leaf as they go, covering everything with a thin web, 
beneath and upon which they live until the end of the 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 69 

season, their nests resembling those of Euphydryas but less 
dense. Early in September and after two or three moults 
they desert these nests and hibernate in crannies, probably 
to some degree in company; for in the early spring they 
may be found again in loose companies, but living openly, 
often four or five on a single leaf of their food-plants and 
in close vicinity to their birthplace. The caterpillars 
change to chrysalis at the end of May or early in June and 
hang from ten to sixteen, usually about thirteen, days. 
The butterfly is extremely local, occurring only in the im- 
mediate vicinity of places where the food-plant grows; but 
not always there, for the butterfly hardly occurs south of 
lat. 42° or west of Wisconsin, while Doellingeria extends 
to Georgia and Arkansas. It is single-brooded, appearing 
upon the wing about the middle of June and flying 
throughout July. 

4. Genus Charidkyas. 
CHARIDRYAS NYCTEIS— THE SILVER CRESCENT. 

(Melitaea nycteis, Phyciodes nycteis.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings pale orange fulvous, 
marked with black; fore wings with outer border very broadly 
margined with black, especially above, where it nearly reaches a 
broad bar descending from the costa to the middle of the wing ; 
base and cell with a tangle of black lines ; hind wings mostly 
black with an exceedingly broad subequal transverse fulvous 
belt, broken in the middle by a brown stripe and with a row of 
round spots in outer half. Under surface of fore wings much 
like upper (but washed out) excepting for varied light markings 
near apex; hind wings pale buff marked with dark brown, the 
veins brown, dull silvery spots next the base and one or two on 
the costal and apical margins, on the latter in the middle of a 
broad brown field. Expanse If inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head shining black, rounded on summits. 
Body spined, scarcely tapering on thoracic segments, velvety 
black above with a dull orange stigmata! band; spines black or 



70 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

blackish, slender, at least three times as high as broad, arranged 
much as in Euphydryas. Length nearly 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — "Some are light-colored, nearly white, with 
delicate blackish spots and fine streaks of brown over the 
surface; others are almost wholly black, while others again are 
between the two extremes " (Edwards). It closely resembles that 
of Cinclidia harrisii, from which it may be distinguished by 
having no suprastigmatal tubercle on the second abdominal 
segment, and by the wing spots hardly forming a definite band. 
Length \ inch. 

The eggs, the sides of which are ribbed above, pitted in 
the middle, and smooth below, are pale green and are laid 
on the under surface of a leaf of the food-plant in clusters 
of from a few up to a hundred, side by side in regular rows; 
they hatch in from nine to fourteen days. The caterpillars 
feed on various Composite plants, particularly sunflower 
and Actinomeris; when young they are gregarious and 
feed on the parenchyma of the leaf; later they eat the 
whole leaf, but at no time do they spin a w 7 eb for conceal- 
ment or protection; they hibernate when partly grown, 
doubtless in crevices, and separate in spring, feeding 
singly. The chrysalis hangs from ten to fifteen days. 
The butterfly is not at all local and is far more common in 
the West than in the East, where it has not been recog- 
nized east of the middle of Maine. It appears to be single- 
brooded in the North, flying in the latter half of June and 
in July; but according to observations in AVest Virginia 
and^Missouri it appears to be there partly single- and partly 
double-brooded, a first generation appearing in May and a 
second, partial generation in July, some of the caterpillars 
from the May butterflies going into early hibernation, others 
passing forward to form the second generation. 



Another species of this genus is C. ismeria, which is a southern 
form, but in the West occurs as far north as Colorado and Montana 
and has even been reported from Brandon, Manitoba, 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 71 

5. Genus Phyciodes. 
PHYCIODES THAROS— THE PEARL CRESCENT. 

(Melitaea tliaros, Melitaea marcia, Melitaea pharos.) 

Butterfly. — Wings dull orange, heavily marked with blackish 
brown, the markings heavier in the female and found on the 
upper surface principally in a broad outer margin, a broad 
divided bar across the middle of the fore wings, and a mesh of 
lines, confused in the female, at the base of the wings ; a pre- 
apical series of dots on the hind wings. On the under surface the 
dark markings of the fore wings are mostly confined to irregular 
patches at the middle of the costal and at the middle and just 
before the tip of the inner border; the hind wings are ochraceous 
with a transverse median tracery of lunulate cinnamon lines, and 
a large brown cloud on the hind margin ; the preapical dots of 
the upper surface are repeated. Expanse \\ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head shining bronze, marked with white, 
rounded on summits. Body spined, scarcely tapering on thoracic 
segments, blackish, dotted above with yellow, with a black dorsal 
stripe (often wanting), a yellow line in the middle of the sides, 
and a yellow band just beneath the spiracles; spines mostly 
yellowish, stout, less than twice as high as broad, arranged 
much as in Euphydryas. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Grayish white, the effect of brownish creases on a 
white ground, darker on the abdomen, w^here there is a dull band 
below the spiracles ; no band on the wings. Length § inch. 

The eggs, which taper so that the summit is only half as 
broad as the base and are ribbed above on the sides, are 
light yellow-green and are laid in clusters of from twenty 
to two hundred on the under side of the leaves of the food- 
plant, crowded together, sometimes in one layer, at others 
in several ; they hatch in from five to ten days. The cat- 
erpillars feed on asters, but their proper food-plant appears 
to be only Aster novae angliae. They feed in company, de- 
vouring at first only the parenchyma of the under surface 
of the leaf, later in life the entire leaf, spinning no web at 
any time. The caterpillars of the latest brood become 
lethargic after the second or third moult and then hiber- 



72 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

nate. The chrysalis hangs for an uncertain period, gener- 
ally from six to thirteen days, sometimes prolonged to a 
month. The butterfly flies slowly and for short distances 
only ; it is everywhere abundant in open places and is 
single- or double-brooded according to locality, triple- or 
even quadruple-brooded further south. In New England 
it is double-brooded, the first brood appearing in the latter 
half of May and flying until the end of the first w r eek in 
July ; the second brood appears about the middle of July 
and may be found even to October, there being great irreg- 
ularity in the development of different caterpillars, among 
which there is sometimes a certain amount of temporary 
lethargy. The full accounts of the behavior of the cater- 
pillars of this species given by Mr. W. H. Edwards are 
well worthy of close attention. The species is dimorphic, 
the butterflies of the first brood (wherever there are more 
than two) differing from those of the later in having more 
accentuated markings. 



A second species of this genus, P. batesii, lias been taken sparingly 
east of the Appalachians ; and a third, P. gorgone, an extreme south- 
ern species, has been recorded from Kansas. 

TRIBE FRITILLARIES. 

6. Genus Brenthis. 

BRENTHIS BELLONA— THE MEADOW FRITILLARY. 

(Argynnis bellona.) 

Butterfly. —Upper surface of wings fulvous, heavily marked 
with black ; on most of the basal half or more, bounded by an 
angulate dentate outer line, the black predominates, touched wi'h 
fulvous dashes ; outer margin bordered with black reduced to 
small T-shaped spots on the hind wings, preceded by two rows 
of spots, the inner circular and crossing the middle of the fulvous 
Seld. On the under side the fore wings are fulvous heavily blotched 
with black excepting on the outer fourth, where there are einna- 
raoneous clouds ; hind wings cinnamoneous fulvous on the basal 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 73 

half, one or the other tint predominating in large spots, traversed 
by brown lines, the outer half purplish brown, obscurely clouded 
and marked with brown. Expanse nearly 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head shining blackish green, the summits round- 
ed. Body spined, purplish black, mottled with yellowish and 
with a velvety-black broken lateral stripe ; spines leathery, dull 
luteous tipped with fulvous, all of nearly the same size. Length 
nearly 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Dark yellowish brown, resulting from brown 
creases on a yellowish-brown ground ; laterodorsal tubercles of 
abdomen (very prominent on third segment) constricted before 
the tip, those of first and second segments of equal size. Length 
more than i inch. 

The eggs, which are tall sugar-loaf -shaped with twenty 
or more prominent vertical ribs, are dull olive-yellow and 
are probably laid singly on the food-plant ; one observer 
says he has seen the female drop her eggs loosely while 
hovering in the air ; they hatch in from five to nine days. 
The caterpillars feed singly and openly upon violets, but 
only at night, making no web and concealing themselves 
about the roots of the herbage by day. Winter is passed by 
the caterpillars when half grown. The chrysalis hangs for 
about a week. The butterfly is most commonly found 
about wet meadows and bogs, and is a northern species, 
hardly found south of lat. 41°; it has a moderately rapid 
but low zigzag flight. There are three broods annually: 
the first appears about the middle of May and fresh speci- 
mens continue to emerge throughout June ; the eggs, how- 
ever, appear not to be laid until the middle of June and 
"may be laid all through the rest of the month and July, 
for the butterfly is very long-lived; the second brood ap- 
pears about the middle of July before the first brood has 
disappeared and continues on the wing into September; the 
third brood appears late in August and continues up to the 
time of frosts. 

There are some strange anomalies about the development 



74 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

of this butterfly. It would appear that in the first brood 
of butterflies, and sometimes but not always in the second, 
the eggs are not developed in the bodies of the females so 
as to be ready to lay until the butterfly has been on the 
wing two or three weeks ; while in part of the second and 
all of the third brood the eggs are fully develoj>ed as soon 
as the butterflies emerge from the chrysalis, or at any rate in 
a day or two. So, too, the behavior of the caterpillars is 
very different, at least in the second brood, some feeding 
regularly and passing forward to form the chrysalids from 
which the butterflies of the third brood emerge ; others be- 
coming lethargic in midsummer, when half grown, and 
passing into premature hibernation curled up in crannies. 
As the caterpillars from the eggs of the final brood of but- 
terflies probably hibernate before moulting at all, the spring 
opens with caterpillars of different stages of growth and of 
different generations of the preceding year, which passing 
on to chrysalis combine to make the first long-drawn-out 
brood of butterflies. Whether any of the caterpillars of 
the first brood behave in this way (so that the spring brood 
of butterflies shall be made up of parts of all the generations 
of the preceding season) is not yet determined, but it seems 
probable from the irregularity and long continuance of the 
second brood of butterflies. 

BRENTHIS MYRINA—THE SILVER BORDERED FRITILLARY. 

(Argynnis inyrina.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings fulvous marked with black ; 
the markings consist principally of an outer margin inwardly 
dentate and enclosing fulvous dots, a curving series of round 
spots beyond middle of outer half of wing, and across the base 
and middle a coarse and irregular mesh of subcontinuous dashes. 
Under surface of fore wings fulvous with black markings feebly 
repeated, a cinnamoneous cloud at apex and apical silvery spots ; 
of hind wings mixed cinnamoneous and ochraceoug, with two 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 75 

transverse series of silvery spots, besides those at base and apex. 
Expanse 1 £ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dark metallic green, the summits rounded. 
Body spined, mottled with dark green, purple, and luteous ; spines 
leathery, blackish fuscous or partly luteous, those on the back of 
the first thoracic segment several times longer than the others. 
Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Dark luteous, the abdomen darker, the whole 
marked with fuscous ; laterodorsal tubercles of abdomen (very 
prominent on the third segment) uniformly conical, those of 
first segment smaller than those of second. Length \ inch. 

The eggs, which are tall sugar-loaf-shaped, with sixteen 
or seventeen prominent vertical ribs, are olivaceous yellow 
and are laid singly on the leaves or stems of the food-plant 
or on immediately adjoining vegetation; also, according to 
some observers, dropped loosely on the wing; they hatch 
in from six to ten, sometimes fourteen, days. The cater- 
pillars feed by night upon violets, and hide by day, and are 
very quick in their movements and easily disturbed. The 
chrysalis hangs from seven to eleven days. The haunts 
and flight of the butterfly are the same as those of B. 
bellona and its life-history probably identical; certainly it 
passes the winter in the caterpillar state, both just from 
the egg and half grown, but the lethargic features noticed 
in the preceding species have not been observed, though 
they probably occur, in this; the butterfly, however, is a 
few days later than B. bellona in appearing in its successive 
broods in a given locality. 



Three other species of Brenthis occur in the northern parts of our 
district, two in the high north, B. chariclea and B. freija, both of 
them circumpolar insects, sometimes taken in Canada not far from 
our border ; and B. montinus, known only from the subalpine dis- 
tricts of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and thought by 
some to be merely a variety of B. chariclea, 



76 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

7. Genus Akgynnis. 
ARGYNNIS ATLANTIS— THE MOUNTAIN SILVER SPOT. 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings orange fulvous, with well- 
defined black markings. These consist, in all our species of 
Argynnis, in the fore wings, of three sinuate bars across the 
outer part of the cell besides a straight and a sinuate bar at the 
tip, a more or less disconnected zigzag band across the middle of 
the wing, and a series of rounded spots on the middle of its outer 
half, besides a submarginal series of sagittate spots on a dusky 
border. On the under surface the design of the fore winge is a 
vague repetition of the upper markings, while the hind wings 
have submarginal, extramesial, intramesial, and pre basal series 
of very large silvery spots, those of the outer series usually the 
larger. The peculiarities of each species are seen principally on 
the under surface of the hind wings, which in the present species 
is distinguished by the depth and griminess of the basal tint and 
by the width of the buff belt between the two outer rows of silver 
spots, which is intermediate in this particular between A. aphro- 
dite and A. eybele. Expanse 2-§- inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dark. Body spinous, dark velvety purple 
above, scarcely paler beneath ; spines corneous, livid at base, the 
spinules nearly half as long as the spines. Length 1£ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Chestnut-brown irrorate with black, basal seg- 
ments of abdomen unicolorous; dorsal and ventral surfaces of 
front part of body set at an angle of about 50°. Length f inch. 

The eggs, which are short sugar-loaf -shaped, as high as 
broad, with twelve to fourteen vertical ribs and honey-yel- 
low, are laid singly on the food-plant and hatch in about 
a fortnight. The caterpillars go into winter quaiters im- 
mediately after emerging from the egg without tasting of 
vegetable food, avake early in the spring, and feed singly 
and by night upon violets, hiding in crevices by day. The 
chrysalids are found attached to the under side of logs 
lying on the ground and in similar places; their period is 
unknown. The butterfly is wilder than the succeeding 
species of the genus and is a more northern form, being 
limited southwardly by about the annual isotherm of 45° JE\ 



FAMIL Y BR USE-FOOTED B UTTEBFLIES. 77 

It is single-brooded, appearing about the middle of June, 
but not becoming common until the middle of August, 
and is still on the wing in September; although the males 
appear some time before the females, the latter may be 
found long before they are ready to lay their eggs, which 
is not until the latter half of August. The males have a 
very perceptible odor of sandal-wood. 

ARGYNNIS APHRODITE— THE SILVER-SPOT FRITILLARY. 

Butterfly. — The ground color of the under surface of the hind 
wings is a pure cinnanioneous, and the buff band between the 
two outer rows of silver spots is very narrow, narrower than the 
outermost brown margin, and at its extremities often disappears. 
Expanse 3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, reddish yellow behind. Body 
spined, blackish brown, with a velvet-black spot at base of each 
spine, not so dark beneath ; spines corneous, black, some reddish 
yellow at base. Length fully li inches. 

Chrysalis. — Livid brown and blackish, less coarsely rugose, 
and with less prominent tubercles than in A. cybele, the basal seg- 
ments of the abdomen bicolored. Length nearly 1 inch. 

The eggs, which are short sugar-loaf-shaped, as high as 
broad, with sixteen to nineteen vertical ribs and honey- 
yellow, are laid singly on the food-plant and hatch in 
a fortnight. After devouring their egg-shells, the cater- 
pillars move actively about as if searching for winter quar- 
ters, utterly declining all vegetable food. After hiberna- 
tion they feed by night on all kinds of wild violets, and 
during the day lie concealed on the ground under chips 
and stones; they are very active. The chrysalis hangs 
from seventeen to twenty days. The butterfly is very fond 
of the blossoms of the thistle, and when feeding can readily 
be taken with the fingers. Though a more northern but- 
terfly than A. cybele, it is more southern than A. atlantis 
and more eastern than A. alcestis. It is found throughout 
New England, excepting in the heart of the White Moun- 



78 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

tains. It is single-brooded and a little later in appearance 
than its companion-species, first appearing about the 
beginning of July; the butterflies are seldom abundant 
before the end of the first week in July, and disappear by 
the middle of September; the eggs are not laid, apparently, 
before the middle of August. The males have no percep- 
tible odor. 

ARGYNNIS ALCESTIS— THE RUDDY SILVER-SPOT. 

Buttterfly. — The ground color of the under surface of the 
hind wings is a nearly uniform and pure deep cinnamoneous, 
with no distinct band of buff between the outer rows of silvery 
spots. Expanse 3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, yellowish behind. Body spinous, 
velvety black; spines corneous, black above the yellowish base. 
Length If inches. 

Chrysalis. — Red, brown, or drab, irregularly mottled and 
creased with black; abdominal segments drab, edged in front 
with black. Length 1 inch. 

The eggs, which are short sugar-loaf-shaped, much 
higher than broad, with about eighteen vertical ribs, are 
presumably laid on the food-plant and hatch in from 
twenty-five to thirty days. Nearly all the caterpillars, 
after devouring their egg-shells, go at once into hiberna- 
tion, but some have been known (in captivity, in a region 
south of their native home) to feed and moult once or 
twice before winter; they feed readily on violets. The 
chrysalis hangs for three weeks or more. The butterfly is 
fond of the open country and is found only in the West, 
occurring in the Mississippi Valley from Michigan to Mon- 
tana north of lat. 40°. Its seasons are all similar to those 
of our eastern species of Argynnis. The male has been 
credited with no odor. 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 79 

ARGYNNIS CYBELE— THE GREAT SPANGLED FRITILLARY. 

Butterfly. — The ground color of the under surface of the hind 
wings is rather dull cinnamoneous, more or less sprinkled with 
buff, and the buff band between the two outer rows of silver spots 
is very broad, broader than the outermost brown border, and 
extends from margin to margin. Expanse fully 3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dull black, castaneous behind. Body 
spined, dull black, the more exposed parts somewhat velvety; 
spines corneous, shining blackish castaneous, the base of many 
dull orange luteous. Length 1^ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Bark brown, creased and mottled with drab or 
reddish brown, or almost wholly dead-leaf brown, more coarsely 
rugulose and with more prominent tubercles than in A. aphrodite, 
the basal segments of abdomen unicolorous. Length more than 
1 inch. 

The eggs, which are short sugar-loaf-shaped, higher 
than broad, with sixteen to eighteen vertical ribs, and 
honey-yellow, are laid singly on the food-plant, and also, 
according to some observers, loosely dropped by the mother 
while poising in the air; they hatch in about fifteen days. 
The caterpillars go at once into hibernation, and become 
full fed on violets during the next June. When about to 
pupate, the caterpillar seeks the under surface of stones 
and of bark lying on the ground, and the chrysalis hangs 
from fourteen to twenty-four days. The butterflies are 
found in open fields and are single-brooded, the earliest 
appearing the last of June and continuing to emerge from 
the chrysalis until at least the middle of July; they re- 
main on the wing until the middle of September or later; 
although pairing by the end of July, the earliest females 
not appearing until the beginning of that month, eggs are 
hardly laid before the middle of August. Further south, 
according to W. H. Edwards, the butterflies appear at the 
end of May, but by the first of July have all disappeared, a 
fresh brood appearing about the middle of August; yet 
he has never been able to get butterflies of this first brood 



80 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

to lay eggs, nor has he found mature eggs in the bodies of 
females at that season. The male has no perceptible odor. 

8. Genus Speyeria. 
SPEYERIA IDALIA— THE REGAL FRITILLARY. 

(Argynnis idalia.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of fore wings brilliant orange, 
marked with black, much after the pattern of Argynnis ; of hind 
wings purplish black, with an extramesial bent series of cream- 
colored roundish spots and a submarginal series of similar spots, 
cream-colored in the female, orange in the male. Under surface 
of fore wings as in Argynnis, of hind wings dark olivaceous, 
heavily marked, Argynnis-fashion, with series of large silvery 
spots, edged, especially on the basal side, with black. Expanse 
3f-4 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black below, reddish above. Body spinous, 
velvety black, heavily banded and striped with ochrey yellow or 
reddish; spines corneous, mostly yellowish, the spinules black. 
Length If inches. 

Chrysalis. — Brown, tinged with pink and marked with black in 
rather small spots, scattered over the thorax and wings and in 
front of, sometimes including, the tubercles. Length more than 
1 inch. 

The eggs, which are short sugar-loaf-shaped, broader 
than high, tapering rapidly, with sixteen to eighteen verti- 
cal ribs and pale green, are laid singly on the food -plant, 
probably on the under side of the leaves; they hatch in 
about thirty days. The caterpillars at once hibernate after 
devouring their egg-shells, or possibly some remain in the 
egg all winter. The remainder of the life-history transpires 
the next season, the caterpillar feeding upon violets (and 
Compositae ?), the chrysalis hanging (in the single instance 
recorded, in West Virginia) seventeen days. The butter- 
fly is somewhat local and is found in open breezy places, oc- 
curring only in a relatively narrow belt across the country, 
following the annual isotherm of 50° F.; it flies low and 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 81 

with no great rapidity, settling suddenly, and is single- 
brooded, the males appearing at the very end of June or 
early in July, the females about ten days later, and both 
continuing on the wing until near the end of September, 
fresh specimens coming from the chrysalis until after the 
middle of August, indicating probably some lethargy in the 
caterpillars. The eggs are not laid until the last of August 
and usually not until September. This is one of our show- 
iest butterflies and the male has a slight musky odor. 

9. Genus Euptoieta. 
EUPTOIETA CLAUDIA— THE VARIEGATED FRITILLARY. 

(Argynnis colmnbina.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings pale fulvous, darker in the 
basal half, with an irregular, transverse, black mesial line, darker, 
broader, and much more abruptly zigzag on the fore than on the 
hind wing, and a pair of extramesial, more or less wavy brown 
lines enclosing between them a series of round blackish spots. 
Under surface of fore wings much like the upper, with the addi- 
tion of a large apical clouded patch of gray and brown, obliquely 
divided; of hind wings dark yellowish brown with the markings 
of the upper surface obscurely repeated and overlaid by hoary 
patches and streaks, especially forming a marginal and a broad 
extramesial band, in both more intense in tint toward the costal 
margin. Expanse more than 2 to nearly 3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head blackish, orange above. Body spinous, 
very variable in color but generally of some glistening shade of 
reddish orange, twice longitudinally banded on each side with 
black, enclosing or partly enclosing squarish white spots. Length 
1£ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Silvery white, dotted and blotched with black ; 
wings much blotched with black; tubercles gilt, but sometimes 
silvery behind, nearly encircled with black. Length f inch. 

The eggs, which are short sugar-loaf -shaped, with from 
thirty to forty vertical ribs and pale green, are laid singly 
on the food-plant and hatch in from five to twelve days. 



82 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

The caterpillar feeds on a considerable variety of polypeta- 
lous plants, but particularly on Passiflora and Sedum; it 
feeds readily on violets and has been known to be injurious 
to the garden pansy ; it probably feeds only by night. The 
chrysalis hangs for about eleven days. The butterfly fre- 
quents open fields and is a southern form, though occurring 
farther north in the Mississippi Valley than in the East; it 
is rarely found in southern New England and perhaps does 
not winter there. It is apparently triple-brooded; the last 
brood is the most numerous and appears so late that, taking 
into account the appearance of butterflies very early in the 
spring, it seems probable either that the butterfly itself 
hibernates or else that some of the autumn chrysalids con- 
tinue over the winter, or both ; but it is not unlikely also that 
caterpillars from eggs laid late in the season may hibernate 
as soon as hatched or when partly grown. It is only by 
further careful observation and experiment in the Middle 
and Southern States that the life-history of this butterfly 
can be determined. The inequality of the broods would 
indicate lethargic tendencies in midsummer caterpillars. 



The genus Semnopsyche (S. diana) also occurs in the southernmost 
part of our district. 

TRIBE ANGLE-WINGS. 
10. Gexus Juxonia. 

JUNONIA CCENIA— THE BUCKEYE. 

(Vanessa coenia, Junonia lavinia). 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings blackish brown, marked 
with orange patches and with peacock-eye spots; on the fore 
wings two parallel orange bars cross the cell, and between them 
and the tip a broad bent whitish band crosses the wing, broaden- 
ing below and enclosing near the lower outer angle a large pea- 
cock-eye with a velvet-black ground; on the outer half of the 
hind wings are two such spots, the smaller the lower, and between 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 83 

them and the brown margin an orange band. Under surface 
gray-brown, more or less ferruginous, only the markings of the 
fore wing repeated, the spots of the hind wing becoming small 
and inconspicuous ocelli. Expanse more than 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dark glossy brown, sprinkled with yellow 
tubercles, the summits crowned with an equal spine of moderate 
height. Body spinous, black-gray, marked with minute, black- 
edged orange dashes and dots transversely arranged and a pair 
of maculate pale stripes next the spiracles ; spines nearly as long 
as the segments, all furnished throughout with spinules, not stel- 
late, luteo-fuscous with a metallic lustre. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Brown with dusky shades and more or less 
mottled and marked with black and cream color, the latter on 
the abdomen; tubercles and alar ridge blunt and rounded. 
Length 1 inch or less. 

The eggs, which are globose, with ten very thin high 
vertical ribs and dark green in color, are laid singly on the 
tips and unJer side of the leaves of the food-plant and 
hatch in four days. The caterpillar feeds on Gerardia and 
a few other Scrophulariaceae, as well as on some other plants, 
at first upon the under surface leaving only a skeleton, 
afterwards openly and at all times with no web. The 
chrysalis hangs from seven to seventeen clays, according 
to the season. The butterfly lives in the open country, 
has a strong and vigorous flight, and is a southern spe- 
cies, though it is seen occasionally as far north as south- 
ern New England and the southern edge of the Great 
Lakes. In the South there are several broods annually, 
the butterfly hibernating; in the northern part of its range 
there may more probably be only two, and it is doubtful 
whether in the farthest points at which it is found it is 
indigenous, as all captures have been made late in the sea- 
son, perhaps the progeny of individuals which have flown 
far north beyond the natural limits. A single specimen 
was even taken by Geddes in the Eocky Mountains of 
Canada, to which it must certainly have flown from a dis- 
tant point. 



84 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

11. Genus Vanessa. 

VANESSA CARDTJI— THE PAINTED LADY, or THISTLE 
BUTTERFLY. 

(Cynthia cardui, Pyrameis cardui.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings blackish brown, heavily 
and irregularly marked with orange; apical half of fore wings 
unequally spotted with white and hind wings with a premarginal 
series of round black spots. Under surface of fore wings like 
the upper with exaggerated markings; of hind wings heavily 
marbled and transversely lined with a mingling of white, oliva- 
ceous brown, and gray, the submarginal spots of the upper sur- 
face becoming more or less perfect and unequal peacock-eye 
ocelli, occurring in nearly all the interspaces. Expanse 2^-3 
inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head blackish with pale hairs, not spined on 
summit. Body spinous, dingy olivaceous yellow, with a more or 
less inconspicuous delicate tracery of paler color and a mottling 
of velvety black, varying considerably in relative amount, and 
with a conspicuous infrastigmatal yellow stripe; spines, including 
a medioclorsal one on both first and second abdominal segments, 
yellowish, the spinules of the apical circlet as long as the spine 
below the circlet; hairs on body much more than half as long as 
the spines. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Greenish, nacreous, or bluish white, delicately 
creased with black and banded with light brown or livid, the 
tubercles often gold-tipped; no distinct supralateral tubercle on 
eighth abdominal segment, and the wing tubercles blunter than 
in the other species of the genus. Length somewhat less than 1 
inch. 

The eggs, which are barrel-shaped, a third higher than 
broad, with about sixteen thin high vertical ribs and pale 
green, are laid singly upon the upper surface of the leaves 
of the food-plant and hatch in from six to eight days. 
The caterpillar feeds upon almost any kind of thistle, 
which is its favorite plant, but also upon other Composite 
plants, especially Anaphalis, and it is also partial to Mal- 
vaceae. On hatching the caterpillar leaves its egg-shell 



FAMILY BRUSH FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 85 

uneaten, and after a meal or two on the parenchyma of 
the upper side of the leaf passes to the under surface and 
makes a filmy solitary nest next one of the ribs, into which 
from time to time, as it needs to enlarge it, it weaves bitten 
particles of the leaf or leaf-hairs; later it makes a larger 
nest or tent, often at the summit of the plant, sometimes 
implicating several of its leaves, or stretching across inequal- 
ities of surface in a single leaf beneath which it lives. The 
chrysalis hangs from eight to fourteen days. The butter- 
fly inhabits open fields and is more nearly cosmopolitan in 
its distribution than any butterfly known, being found in 
almost every quarter of the globe except in South America 
(in the northern parts only of which is it found) and the 
arctic regions. It is generally regarded as single-brooded 
throughout the greater part of Europe, but with us, even 
as far north as New England and Canada, it is certainly 
double-brooded. It hibernates in the butterfly state (per- 
haps also some autumn chrysalids pass over the winter) 
and so appears early in the spring. Eggs are laid late in 
May and early in June; the caterpillars become fully grown 
between the middle of June and the end of July, and before 
the middle of July the first brood of butterflies makes its 
appearance. Eggs are again laid by the end of this month 
and during August, and late in August or early in Septem- 
ber a second brood of butterflies appears. More than most 
butterflies this species is subject to extensive fluctuations 
in numbers, and in Europe at least has been known to 
migrate in vast flocks. 

VANESSA HUNTERA-THE PAINTED BEAUTY. 

(Cynthia huntera, Pyrameis huntera, Pyrarneis virginiensis, 
Pyrameis terpsichore.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wiugs much as in V. cardui, 
excepting that the largest pale spot in the apical half of the fore 
wings is white in the male but orange in the female, and that the 



86 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

premarginal series of spots on the hind wing becomes a more or 
less continuous band with the blue pupil of an ocellus in two of 
the interspaces. The under surface of the hind wings is smoky 
brown, with a conspicuous tracery of whitish cross lines on the 
basal half, and a broad, irregular, mesial white band, beyond 
which are two moderately large, exquisitely formed, round pea- 
cock-eye spots. Expanse 2-2^ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, without spines on summits. Body 
spinous, velvety black, with delicate, transverse, yellowish lines 
next the incisures, and at the front base of the supralateral 
spines, from the second abdominal segment backward, a con- 
spicuous, round, silvery- white spot ; spines, including a medio- 
dorsal one on both first and second abdominal segments, black ; 
hairs short. Length 1\ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Dull grayish white marked with brown or oliva- 
ceous, sometimes golden green marked with purple, the darker 
markings in part forming an irregular broad band along the 
sides from one end of the body to the other ; tubercles orange- 
tipped, the supralateral series, including one on the eighth ab- 
dominal segment, bluntly conical. Length f inch. 

The eggs, which are barrel-shaped, slightly higher than 
broad, with thirteen to sixteen thin high vertical ribs and 
yellowish green, are laid singly on the upper surface of 
the leaves of the food-plant and crowded down between 
the hairs which cover it; their period has never been re- 
corded. The caterpillars feed almost exclusively on 
Gnaphalieae, a group of Composite plants nearly allied to 
the thistles, and particularly on "everlasting," Gnaphalium, 
but they have also been found on a number of other plants, 
including thistles. On emerging from the egg, they bur- 
row beneath the silken hairs of the food-plant, bite them 
off and, mingling them with much silk, form at once a 
dense white mat; beneath this they devour the paren- 
chyma and then enlarge the nest, never leaving it for food 
but enclosing larger and larger areas, until finally many 
leaves are drawn together, the bitten-off inflorescence of 
the Gnaphalium interwoven with the web, and a nest 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 87 

formed as large as a pigeon's egg; only in the last few 
days of their life do they leave the nest and devour the 
entire leaf. The chrysalis, sometimes formed within the 
final nest, hangs from ten to twelve days. The butterfly 
is a vigorous flyer and is found in open fields. It is double- 
brooded in the North, hibernating as a butterfly and also 
to some extent as a chrysalis. The hibernating butterflies 
leave their winter quarters about the middle of May and 
the chrysalids give forth their contents a few weeks later; 
eggs are laid early in June, and from the middle of July 
to the end of the first week in August the butterflies of 
the first brood (proper) of the season make their appear- 
ance. Eggs are again laid in August, and the second 
brood of butterflies flies from the middle of September to 
the end of the season. As the butterfly is long-lived, indi- 
viduals may be seen on the wing throughout the entire 
season from the middle of May to the end of October. In 
the South the number of broods is certainly greater, and 
the winter is passed in the butterfly state, if not also in 
the chrysalis. 

VANESSA ATALANTA— THE RED ADMIRAL. 

(Cynthia atalanta, Pyrameis atalanta.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings purplish black, the fore 
wings with white markings at the apex as in other species of 
Vanessa, but also with a conspicuous, oblique, curved belt of 
bright orange across the middle of the wing ; hind wings mar- 
gined with the same. Under surface of hind wings greatly 
varied with marbling and transverse wavy lineation of pale 
brown olivaceous gray and black markings of intricate pattern, 
including a triangular gray patch on the middle of the costal 
border and a dusting of metallic green on a submarginal series 
of obscure dark ocelli. Expanse 21 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Very similar to that of V. cardirf, including 
mediodorsal spines on first and second abdominal segments, but 
perhaps even more variable in coloring ; usually, however, more 



88 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

or less of a saffron tint, the distinct light lateral band more com- 
monly macular than in V. cardui, the hairs notably shorter, be- 
ing less than half as long as the spines, and the spinules of the 
apical circlet not one third as long as the spine below the circlet. 
Length \\ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Ashen brown, more or less clouded with blackish 
fuscous and with a dark stigmatal band, burt enlivened by some 
brilliant more or less golden spots and dotted with black; tuber- 
cles brownish yellow except some golden ones in the constricted 
base of the abdomen, the supralateral series extending upon the 
eighth abdominal segment and sharply conical. Length more 
than f inch. 

The eggs, which are barrel- shaped with nine thin high 
vertical ribs and delicate green in color, are laid singly on 
the upper surface of the food-plant and hatch in five or 
six days. The caterpillar feeds on Urticaceous plants and 
almost exclusively on true nettle (Urtica). On quitting 
the egg the caterpillar partially devours it and then gener- 
ally makes its way to another leaf — by preference one of 
the half-opened ones at the summit of the plant — and fast- 
ening together different points of the leaf makes a canopy 
under which it lives, eating only the surface of the leaf 
beneath the web; later it catches the outer edges of a 
larger leaf together with silk, and lives in the tube thus 
formed, devouring the lower edges until it has eaten itself 
out of house and home; it then forms another nest, first 
biting the stem partly through so as to cause it to droop. 
The chrysalis often transforms in one of these bowers 
after hanging for about ten days. This butterfly, again, 
is an inhabitant of the open field and is found all over 
Europe as well as North America. Its life-history is much 
like that of V. huniera, it being double-brooded and hi- 
bernating principally as a butterfly, but also as a chrysalis. 
About the second week in May the butterfly comes out of 
winter quarters, and by the first week in June the chrysa- 
lids begin to disclose their inmates, both sets of butterflies 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES 89 

laying eggs at or about the same time, so that caterpillars 
may be found throughout the whole of June and the firso 
half of July, and butterflies of the new brood emerge from 
the chrysalis throughout July. Eggs are laid at once, and 
then a fresh lot of caterpillars may be found directly the 
old ones have disappeared, or even before that. These 
develop into butterflies by the very last of August, and 
continue on the wing until they disappear into their win- 
ter hiding-places. This they do among the very last of 
our hibernating butterflies. Further south there are 
doubtless a greater number of broods. 

12. Gekus Aglais. 
AGLAIS MILBERTI— AMERICAN TORTOISE-SHELL. 

(Vanessa nrilberti, Nymphalis milberti, Vanessa furcillata.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings blackish brown with two 
orange fulvous spots in the cell of the fore wings and a very 
broad premarginal band of the same crossing both wings, on the 
fore wings divided at its upper extremity; a marginal series of 
small blue lunules. Under surface slate-brown, the premarginal 
band gray-brown, crowded with cross-threads of blackish brown, 
the basal half with distant black cross-threads. Expanse 2 
inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, with white papillae, not spined on 
summits. Body spinous, the spines shorter than the segments, 
with a mediodorsal spine on second but not on first abdominal 
segment ; velvety black above, profusely dotted, except on dorsal 
line, with whitish papillae, giving a snuff-gray appearance, green- 
ish yellow beneath. Length nearly 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Pale brown, everywhere creased and flecked with 
dark fuliginous ; or pale golden green w r ith indistinct ferruginous 
creases and then marked with salmon and livid tints ; ocellar 
tubercles pointed, a mediodorsal tubercle on second abdominal 
segment, the mesothoracic prominence not compressed at tip. 
Length f inch. 

The eggs, which are barrel-shaped, as broad as high, with 
nine or ten thin and high vertical ribs and pale grass-green, 



90 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

are laid in masses close together in several superposed layers 
or heaps to the number of several hundred on the under 
side of leaves of the food-plant near the summit; they 
hatch in about six days. The caterpillars feed upon nettles 
and are social in the first half of their life, at once, without 
devouring the egg-shell, climbing to the summit of the 
plant, lining it with a web beneath which they swarm; 
when half grown they disperse and live more openly or in 
partial shelters, as where three or four may be found to- 
gether in incompletely closed leaves of nettle, open at tip 
but closed at base, by which a reversed pocket is formed 
within which they live when not feeding. The chrysalids 
usually hang for ten or twelve days. The butterfly has a 
lively flight, is found by roadsides in Canada and the North- 
ern United States as far south as the latitude of New York 
City, or higher than that in the Mississippi Valley. It is 
triple-brooded, hibernating in both the butterfly and the 
chrysalis state, in the former under piled stones. The 
wintering butterflies come out while the snow still lies on the 
ground, and in April the wintering chrysalids give birth 
to the enclosed butterflies which may be found on the wing 
through May. Eggs are first laid late in April, and by 
about the middle of June the butterflies from caterpillars 
of the same season begin to fly; by the end of July a sec- 
ond, and by the first of September a third brood of butter- 
flies appears, though some of the later chrysalids continue 
over the winter; even as late as November the butterfly 
may sometimes be seen on the wing. 

13. Genus Euvanessa. 
EUVANESSA ANTIOPA— THE MOURNING CLOAK. 

(Vanessa antiopa.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings rich maroon, deepening 
into black next the straw yellow, black-dusted, outer margin, and 
in the black enlivened by small dashes of blue. Under surface 






FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 91 

nearly uniform black-gray through a mingling of crowded trans- 
verse threads of black and blue (as seen under a lens), the broad 
outer margin ashen white, much flecked with brown. Expanse 
3-3^ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, not spined on summits. Body 
spinous, the spines much longer than the segments, but no me- 
diodorsal spines on either first or second abdominal segments; 
velvety black, sprinkled with white papillae and with a row of 
large mediodorsal orange spots; prolegs reddish. Length 2 
inches. 

Chrysalis. — Dark yellow-brown marked with blackish fuscous, 
often with a pale bloom and tinged with roseate ; larger tubercles 
red-tipped ; ocellar tubercles pointed; no mediodorsal tubercle 
on second abdominal segment. Length 1 inch or more. 

The eggs are barrel-shaped, slightly higher than broad, 
with seven or eight thin high vertical ribs fading next base 
and are of a pale yellow at first, changing to dark brown 
and then to inky black; they are laid in a single layer in 
rings encircling or nearly encircling one of the terminal 
twigs of the food-plant near its tip and hatch in from nine 
to sixteen days. The caterpillars feed principally upon 
willows and elm, but also on poplars and to a less extent on 
a number of allied plants; they are gregarious throughout 
life, and in feeding at first range themselves side by side in 
compact columns; they spin, however but little web and 
this merely to make a track upon the stems of the food- 
plant, along which they travel in a procession when moving 
from place to place. The chrysalis state lasts from eight 
to sixteen days according to the season, and the butterfly is 
double-brooded, hibernating in the perfect stage. The 
butterflies come out the first of the butterfly hibernators — 
any .varrn winter day may lure them — and lay eggs early in 
May, from which a first brood of the season's butterflies 
springs into being very late in June or early in July; by 
the middle or last of July eggs are again laid, and the sec- 
ond brood of butterflies is on the wing early in September 



92 THE COMMON Ell BUTTERFLIES. 

and remains on the wing until early in Xovember. In the 
northern part of its range, however, as in the White Moun- 
tains of New Hampshire, the butterfly is single-brooded, 
appearing early in August. 

14. Genus Eugonia. 
EUGONIA J-ALBUM— THE COMPTON TORTOISE. 

(Vanessa j -album, Grapta j -album, Nymphalis j -album.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings tawny orange, paling into 
yellow on the outer half of the wings, marked heavily with 
black especially on the fore wings, where three large black 
patches depend from the costal margin, while four smaller patches 
occur in the middle of the lower half of the wing ; a small white 
transverse bar near apex of fore wings, repeated nearer the base 
on the hind wing. Under surface brownish cinereous, darker on 
basal half, everywhere transversely streaked with dark threads 
or clouded with fuliginous shades ; an L-shaped white spot at 
apex of cell of hind wings, the lower limb subobsolete. Expanse 
nearly 3 inches. 

Caterpillar.— Head lighter or darker, but dark above and 
crowned with prominent black spines. Body spinous, variable 
in color but darker above than below, and more or less green, 
dotted with w T hite and with longitudinal, light-colored, often 
whitish, maculate stripes ; the upper spines black with rufous 
base, the lower lighter colored, those of the thoracic segments 
with no spinules on the basal half. Length 1|— 2 inches. 

Chrysalis.— Green of various shades, often covered with a 
whitish bloom, sometimes clouded with brown, sometimes 
roseate, the tubercles in the saddle metallic golden, the meso- 
thoracic prominence apically compressed, a mediodorsal tubercle 
on second abdominal segment, the suprastigmatal tubercle on 
eighth abdominal segment obsolete. Length 1 inch. 

The eggs are doubtless laid in small clusters on the food- 
plant, but they have never yet been found. The caterpil- 
lars feed upon the white birch in company (fifteen have 
been found together), but no w T eb has been mentioned. 
The chrysalis hangs for about ten days. The butterfly is 



TAMIL 7 BE VSHFO OTED B UlTERFL IES. 93 

a northern species, having in eastern America almost 
precisely the range of Aglais milierti, and is found in 
forest roads and open woodland. It is probably single- 
brooded and winters as a butterfly, appearing fresh on the 
wing at the very end of June and early in July, but 
becoming much more numerous later in the season and 
hibernating in October, appearing again in the early spring 
and laying eggs early in May. A swarm of this butterfly 
invaded one of the Nantucket light-houses one September 
night, perhaps in migration. 

15. Genus Polygonia. 

The butterflies of this genus may be distinguished al- 
most at a glance by their greatly angulated and excised 
wrings. All are tawny-colored above, heavily spotted and, 
especially the hind wings, broadly bordered with black; 
the dark markings of the fore wings consist mainly of two 
stout bars depending from the costal margin and, around 
the inner bar, of a series of five or six rounded spots 
arranged in a line bent at right angles, one limb parallel 
to, the other depending from, the costal margin. The 
species differ principally in the colorings and markings of 
the under surface of the hind w T ings. 

POLYGONIA PROGNE— THE GRAY COMMA. 

(Vanessa progne, Grapta progne, Grapta c-argenteum.) 

Butterfly. — Middle of outer margin of fore wings distinctly 
crenulate ; tail of hind wings not more than twice as long as 
broad ; under surface of same wings gray, traversed by trans- 
verse blackish threads, with slight greenish submarginal mark- 
ings, and a central thin silvery L, the upper limb pointed at tip. 
Expanse fully 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head brown, crowned by long and slender 
spines having lateral spinules thrown off from the middle, and 
not so long as the portion of the central spine beyond them ; 



94 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

body spinous, yellowish brown, uniformly variegated above with 
blackish olivaceous ; spines mostly black. Length more than 
1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Greatly variegated with buff, olive-green, brown, 
white and salmon-red; ocellar tubercles equal on basal half, con- 
ical beyond, the notch between them broader than deep ; largest 
abdominal tubercles not very much larger than the others. Length 
nearly 1 inch. 

The eggs, which are pale green, barrel-shaped and ribbed, 
are laid singly on the upper surface of the leaves of the 
food-plant and hatch in four or five days. The caterpillar 
feeds openly on species of Kibes (currant, gooseberry, 
etc.) and probably other Grossulaceae and will eat elm. 
The chrysalis state varies from ten to sixteen days and has 
been known to be as short as seven. The butterfly is a 
northern species, hardly occurring south of lat. 40°, is 
fond of lanes and the vicinity of barns, and is greatly ad- 
dicted to the moisture from drying fruit. It is double- 
brooded, hibernating as a butterfly, coming out in March, 
laying eggs about the middle of May, and continuing on 
the wing into June. At the very end of June or early in 
July the new butterflies begin to appear, lay eggs the same 
month, and the second brood, which is the more abundant, 
comes upon the stage in the latter part of August and 
early in September; very few have not sought their winter 
quarters by the middle of October. 

P0LYG0NIA FAUNUS— THE GREEN COMMA. 

(Grapta faunus, Vanessa faunus, Nyinphalis faunus.) 

Butterfly. — Middle of outer margin of fore wings conspicuous- 
ly crenate ; tail of hind wings not more than twice as long as 
broad ; under surface of same wings dark gray-brown, much 
enlivened by green and ashen along the outer third, especially in 
the male, and with a central, heavy, silvery comma with expand- 
ed tips. Expanse fully 2 inches. 

Caterpillar.— Head black with a pale W on the front, crowned 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 95 

by not very long black spines. Body spinous, brownish yellow, 
with a large dorsal white patch on posterior half of body in strik- 
ing contrast to the rest ; spines white. Length 1\ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Pale wood-brown, streaked with dusky green ; 
ocellar tubercles equal on basal half, conical beyond, the notch 
between them deeper than broad ; largest tubercles of abdominal 
segments not very much larger than the others. Length nearly 
1 inch. 

The grass-green, barrel-shaped, ribbed eggs are laid 
singly on the upper surface of the leaves of the food-plant 
and hatch in one week. The caterpillar feeds principally 
on willow and black birch, but has also been taken on 
alder, currant, and wild gooseberry; it does not devour its 
egg-shell on hatching, but immediately crawls to the under 
side of the leaf, otherwise living openly and making no 
sort of nest. The chrysalis state lasts from eight to fifteen 
days. The butterfly is a northern species, not occurring 
in the east south of Massachusetts (except along the Ap- 
palachians), though in the Mississippi Valley it comes as 
far south as Iowa and northern Nebraska. It is very 
active in its movements, partial to roadways, especially 
through the forest, and although on the wing the entire 
summer appears to be only single-brooded. It hibernates 
as a butterfly and lays eggs in the latter half of May and 
throughout June, and about the middle of July the brood 
of butterflies of the season appears w r hile some of the 
hibernators are still on the wing; butterflies continue to 
emerge from the chrysalis for a month, and it is not until 
the middle of October that they have all retired to winter 
quarters. 

POLYGONIA COMMA— THE HOP MERCHANT. 

(Vanessa comma, Grapta comma, Vanessa c-album, Grapta dryas, 
Nymphalis dryas.) 

Butterfly. — Middle of the outer margin of fore wings distinctly 
crenate ; tail of hind wings not more than twice as long as broad; 



96 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

under surface of same wings dark brown on basal half, lighter 
brown (more or less cinereous in the male) on apical half, consider- 
able variegated (especially in the male) and traversed by short 
transverse threads of darker brown throughout, with a central 
heavy silvery comma expanded at the ends. Expanse 2~2£ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, more or less faced with green, 
crowned by stout and not very long black spines, the spinules of 
which, emitted from the middle, are about as long as the part of 
the spine beyond them. Body spinous, varying in different in- 
dividuals from green to dark brown, in the latter case light below, 
and transversely and narrowly lined with lighter colors above ; 
spines pellucid. Length 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Pale wood-brown, tinged and streaked with pale 
green ; ocellar tubercles conical throughout, the largest abdominal 
tubercles strikingly larger than the others, mesoth oracle tubercle 
triangular on side view. Length nearly 1 inch. 

The pale green, barrel-shaped, ribbed eggs are laid singly 
or more commonly in columns of from two to nine upon 
the under surface or stems of the leaves of the food-plant 
and hatch in four or five days. The caterpillars feed on 
Urticaceous plants, particularly on the hop, to which they 
are sometimes destructive. The top egg of the column 
hatches first and the rest in succession down, or rather up, 
the column ; the eggs are not eaten and the caterpillar is 
strictly solitary, two being rarely found on one leaf ; at first 
it lives openly, but later in life it draws together the edges 
of the leaf on the under side of which it is living, sufficiently 
to protect it from sight and the weather, emerging from it 
at night to feed. The chrysalis generally hangs from seven 
to eleven days, but late in the season the time is sometimes 
prolonged to eighteen days. The butterfly is wary and 
active, inhabits the open country, fields, etc., and is double- 
brooded. The butterfly hibernates and is on the wing from 
March to May and sometimes early June, lays eggs on the 
tender leaves as soon as they burst, and the first fresh but- 
terflies of the season appear at the end of June and fly 
through August. Eggs are again laid late in July and 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 97 

in August and the butterflies of the second brood appear 
the last week in August ; they have all or almost all gone 
into winter quarters before October. 

There are two very distinct forms of this butterfly, one 
(dryas) with the upper surface of the hind wings much 
darker than the other (harrisii); most of the first brood are 
of the former, most of the second of the latter, but not in- 
variably. 

POLYGONIA INTERROGATIONS.— THE VIOLET TIP. 

(Vanessa interrogationis, Grapta interrogationis, Grapta fabricii, 
Grapta unibrosa.) 

Butterfly. — Middle of outer margin of fore wings scarcely 
crenulate; tail of hind wings several times longer than broad; 
under surface of same wings highly variegated with patches and 
transverse stripes of various shades of ferruginous brown and 
ochraceous in the male, nearly uniform reddish brown in the 
female, in both with a central silver reversed semicolon. Ex- 
panse 2J-3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head lighter or darker brown, crowned by 
moderately stout spines, the lateral spinules of which are emitted 
from below the middle. Body spinous, castaneous, uniformly 
flecked with light dots so distributed as to form longitudinal 
faintly oblique stripes on each segment ; spines luteous or rufous. 
Length nearly 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Various shades of wood-brown tinged with oliva- 
ceous, with a fine web of brown in impressed lines, the tubercles 
of the saddle nacreous ; ocellar tubercles conical throughout, the 
larger abdominal tubercles strikingly larger than the others, 
mesothoracic tubercle quadrate as seen from the side. Length 
nearly 1 inch. 

The bluish-green, barrel-shaped, ribbed eggs are laid on 
the under surface of the leaves of the food-plant, either 
singly or in columns of from three to eight, and hatch in 
from three to eleven days according to the season. The 
caterpillars feed upon Urticaceous plants of which hop 
and elm are the favorites, and also upon linden. They are 



98 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

partially gregarious, several being often found in a loose 
company; they rarely seek concealment, though they some- 
times do so after the manner of P. comma. The chrysalis 
hangs from seven to twenty-six days according to the sea- 
son and locality. The butterfly is a southern species rarely 
found north of the Canadian border. In the northern part 
of its range it is double-brooded, but at least triple-brooded 
in the Southern States, probably everywhere hibernating 
as a butterfly ; in the region with which we are concerned 
it leaves its winter quarters early in May and flies until 
the early part or middle of June, laying eggs late in May 
and early in June. The first brood of the season's butter- 
flies appears early in July or the last days of June and con- 
tinues flying until the middle of August ; the second brood 
appears toward the last of August and continues to emerge 
from the chrysalis even into October. 

This butterfly is dimorphic in much the same way as 
P. comma, one form (umbrosa) having the upper surface of 
the hind wings much darker than the other (fabricii), but 
differing also in the form of the wings ; as in P. comma 
the butterflies of the first brood are mostly of the dark type, 
but those of the second invariably, or with very rare excep- 
tions, of the lighter type. 



Other species of tliis genus occurring in our district are P. gracilis^ 
at the White Mountains of New Hampshire and northwestward ; an£ 
P. satyrus, a Pacific coast species occasionally found in southern 
Canada. 

TRIBE SOVEREIGNS. 

16. Genus Basilarchia. 

BASILARCHIA ARTHEMIS— THE BANDED PURPLE. 

(Limenitis artheniis, Xyinphalis artheinis, Nyniphalis lamina.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings velvety chocolate-black, 
with a broad white bow crossing both wings just beyond the 
middle. Under surface very dark brown, with a similar bow, a 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 99 

few black-bordered orange spots at the base, and a premarginal 
series of plain orange spots, besides a double series of crennlate 
blue lines, next outer margin. Expanse nearly 3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dark drab, tuberculate, the summits 
crowned with a large tubercle, rounded at tip but with raised 
points ; the principal tubercle behind it tumid, but little higher 
than broad. Body naked, humped, and irregularly tuberculate, 
of various shades of green, especially olive, with a dorsal patch 
of pah 1 buff; a pair of long, clubbed, prickly tubercles on second 
thoracic segment; not more than about twenty minute smooth 
warts on any one segment above the spiracles. Length nearly 1\ 
inches. 

Chrysalis. — Varying from creamy white to silvery gray, the 
wings margined with greenish brown, the body grotesquely 
streaked; basal wing-tubercle produced to a minute, backward- 
directed point; tail-piece, seen from above, less than twice as 
long as its width at apex. Length nearly 1 inch. 

The eggs, which are globular, pitted, studded with short 
filaments, and grayish green, are laid singly on the upper 
surface of the extreme tips of the pointed leaves of the 
food-plant, leaves on young plants, only a few feet above 
the ground, being usually selected; they hatch in from 
seven to nine days. The caterpillars usually feed upon 
black and yellow birch, preferably the former, willow and 
poplar, but have also been found on shadbush and some 
other plants. As soon as it has hatched the young cater- 
pillar devours its egg, and then begins to feed upon the 
leaf upon which it was born, beginning at the extreme 
tip, but always leaving the midrib untouched as it proceeds 
toward the base; when resting after a meal, it always 
takes its station on the stripped midrib, to which it fastens 
with much silk minute bits of leaf to strengthen it; and 
like all the other species of the genus it makes while 
young a loose bail of the size of a small pea out of bitten 
scraps of leaf held together by a few strands of silk and 
hangs it by a thread or tw T o to the stripped midrib, so that 
it is moved by every breath of wind — a device, perhaps, to 



100 THE COMMONER BUTTEliFLIES. 

distract from itself the attention of an enemy; for, by con- 
stant removals, it is always kept close to the eaten edge of 
the leaf, while its own perch is as far out on the stripped 
midrib as it can find a good footing. After the second 
moult it pays no further attention to this packet, and 
retires for its siesta to the leaf-stalk or neighboring twig, 
but it does not quit its feeding spot until the leaf, alwajs 
excepting the midrib, is almost or quite devoured, when it 
passes to a neighboring leaf. The chrysalis state lasts from 
nine to fourteen, usually ten to twelve, days. The butter- 
fly, one of our most striking species, is a northern form, 
hardly occurring, except in elevated regions, south of New 
Hampshire, and frequents shaded roads, particularly in the 
forest. It is perhaps as a rule single-brooded, though a 
second brood, feeble in numbers, is known to occur; the 
first brood appears in the latter half of June and remains 
upon the wing until early in August; the second brood, 
when it appears, conies very late in August and early in 
September. The insect hibernates as a half-grown cater- 
pillar, and to do this constructs, like all the species of the 
genus, a singular hibernaculum : selecting a growing leaf 
of its food-plant, it eats away the apical third or fourth, 
excepting the midrib and a narrow flange on each side of it; 
or it uses the leaf it has been eating, already trimmed in 
this fashion; it then draws together, above, the outer edges 
of the uneaten portion to construct a tube, which it lines 
very heavily with brown silk, within and without; further 
than this, it binds the leaf-stalk to the stem with repeated 
windings of silk to prevent its falling to the ground in the 
winter; by means of the ledge formed by the projecting 
midrib, it then enters its tube head foremost and com- 
pletely fills it, so that the opening is just closed by the 
roughened end of the body. In the spring it quits its 
winter home as soon as the first tender leaves have appeared. 
A form called proserpina, a hybrid between this species 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 101 

and the next, but more nearly resembling the latter with 
more or less distinct traces of the white bow peculiar to the 
former, is found at places along the southern limit of 
B. arthemis; by some it is regarded as a dimorphic form 
of the present species. 

BASILARCHIA ASTYANAX— THE RED-SPOTTED PURPLE. 

(Limenitis astyanax, Nyrnplialis epkestion, Nyinpkalis Ursula, 
Lirnenitis ursula.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings blackish, the outer third 
of the hind wings with three series of pale blue or green spots, 
the inner of variable width and sometimes suffusing nearly the 
whole wing, at least in some lights. Under surface brown, with 
a double submarginal series of blue lunulate lines, a submarginal 
series of orange spots in a black setting, and a few black-edged 
orange spots at the base. Expanse 3-4 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head brownish red, tuberculate, the summits 
crowned with a large nearly spherical tubercle with small pro- 
jections. Body naked, humped and irregularly tuberculate, 
strangely streaked, blotched and mottled with brown, olivaceous, 
and creamy tints ; a pair of long, clubbed, and prickly blackish 
tubercles on second thoracic segment ; considerably more than 
twenty minute smooth warts on most segments above the 
spiracles. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Grotesquely variegated with patches and streaks 
of pale salmon, dark olivaceous, inky plumbeous, and yellow- 
brown, the lighter tints prevailing; basal wing-tubercle rounded 
or partially suppressed; tail- piece, seen from above, less than 
twice as long as its width at apex. Length nearly 1 inch. 

The eggs, which are globular, pitted, briefly filamentous, 
and bright yellowish green, are laid as in the last species, 
but their duration has not been definitely ascertained. The 
caterpillar is polyphagous, but seems to prefer Eosaceous 
plants, especially Primus, Crataegus, and Pyrus; its habits 
are precisely those of the preceding species in every par- 
ticular mentioned above. The chrysalis hangs for ten or 



102 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

twelve days. The butterfly is somewhat of a forest species 
like the last, but not to so considerable a degree, is often 
found in orchards, and is strangely attracted by a manure- 
heap. It is a southern species having its northern limits 
at just about the southern extension of the preceding 
species. In the north it appears to be partly single-, partly 
double-brooded, some caterpillars from the first eggs of the 
season going into their hibernacula when half grown, 
others continuing to feed, changing to chrysalis and pro- 
ducing a new brood of butterflies late in the season; these 
lay eggs, the caterpillars from which enter their hiber- 
nacula and in the next season develop into butterflies side 
by side with those from the first brood. The butterflies of 
the first brood appear in the northern part of their range, 
i.e., in our district, about the middle of June, coutinue to 
emerge from the chrysalis for a month and are still to be 
seen early in August, about the middle of which month 
the second, less abundant brood appears and flies through 
September. 

In the South this butterfly is mimicked by the female 
of S em nop sy die diana. 

BASILARCHIA ARCHIPPUS— THE VICEROY. 

(Lirnenitis arcliippus, Liruenitis misippus, Liuienitis disippus ) 

Butterfly. — Wings orange with heavy black veins, a broad 
black outer border enclosing a row of white spots (beneath, a 
double series of white limules), a triangular black spot enclosing 
two white spots and ending in a streak across the fore wings 
beyond the middle, and, on the hind wings, a heavy, curved, 
black, extramesial line. Expanse 3-3J inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head reddish brown, tuberculate, the summits 
crowned with a large tubercle heavily denticulate at tip, the 
principal tubercle behind it denticle-shaped, many times higher 
than broad. Body naked, humped, and irregularly tuberculate, 
dark olivaceous, often tinged with brownish yellow, and with a 
cream-colored ragged-edged patch on top of middle abdominal 



FA MIL Y BR USII-FOOTED B UTTERFLIES. 103 

segments ; a pair of long, clubbed, and prickly tubercles on 
second thoracic segment; not more than about twenty minute, 
smooth warts on any one segment above the spiracles. Length 
more than 1 inch. 

Chrysalis.— Strangely streaked and blotched with blackish 
green, yellowish brown, pale salmou, and plumbeous, lightest on 
the abdomen; tail-piece, viewed from above, twice as long as its 
apical width. Length nearly 1 inch. 

The eggs, which are globular, pitted, briefly filamentous, 
and deep green, are laid as in the other species, but 
occasionally also on the under surface of the leaf, and 
hatch in from four to eight days. The caterpillar feeds 
upon various Salicaceae, particularly willow and poplar; its 
habits are precisely like those of the other species as 
recorded above, but it is remarkable that, being everywhere 
at least double-brooded, the caterpillars of the first brood 
never form hibernacula, so that we have here an instinct 
inherited only by alternate generations. The chrysalis 
hangs from seven to ten days. The butterfly lives in the 
open country and is widespread; as stated above, it is 
double-brooded, and probably in the Southern States there 
is a third brood, which may perhaps sometimes appear as 
a supplementary feeble brood further north. About the 
latitude of central New England the first butterflies, from 
the caterpillars which have hibernated in their first or 
second, rarely their third, stage, appear the first week in 
June, continue to emerge throughout this month and begin 
to lay eggs about a fortnight after they first appear ; the 
second brood appears about the middle of July, while many 
of the butterflies of the first brood are still on the wing; 
as butterflies are still to be found laying eggs late in 
August and even in September, there may possibly be a 
third brood. 

This butterfly has a special interest from its remarkable 
departure in coloring and pattern from the other species 



104 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

of the genus, thereby mimicking to an extraordinary degree 
the general appearance of Anosia plexipjms. 

TRIBE EMPERORS. 

17. Genus Anaea. 

ANiEA ANDRIA— THE GOAT-WEED BUTTERFLY. 

(Papliia gly cerium, Paphia troglodyta.) 

Butterfly. — Fore wings falcate, hind wings tailed. Upper sur- 
face either dark orange, margined feebly with brown (male) or 
paler orange, heavily margined with brown, and with a very 
irregular, broad, paler band edged with dark brown crossing 
both wings (female). Under surface nearly uniform dry-leaf 
brown. Expanse 2^-3 inches. 

Caterpillar.— Head gray-green, with minute tubercles which 
are slightly larger on the summits. Body naked, gray-green, 
studded with numerous and well-distributed raised paler points. 
Length 1£ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Stout and plump, light green, granulated with 
white, sometimes speckled with brown, transversely ridged above 
the wings in the middle of the abdomen. Length nearly f inch. 

The eggs, which are nearly spherical, encircled near 
summit with raised points, and sky-blue when first laid, 
afterwards turning opaque yellow, are usually laid singly 
on the under side of the leaf of the food-plant, though 
often two will be found on a single leaf; they hatch in 
four to six days. The caterpillar feeds on species of 
Croton, goat-w r eed; in its earlier life it devours the tip of 
the leaf except the midrib, on which it rests as a perch 
after the manner cf Basilarchia, strengthening it by 
pellets of the leaf attached by silk; after its second moult 
it lines the upper surface of a leaf with silk, bringing the 
upper edges together without fastenings, and thus makes 
a nest like that of Euphoeades, within which it lies con- 
cealed, eating the base of the leaf; when this becomes too 
small it makes a similar nest from another leaf, but goes 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 105 

outside to feed on neighboring leaves, generally toward 
evening. The chrysalis hangs from seven to twenty days. 
The butterfly is rapid in flight and shy of approach; it is 
found in the Mississippi Valley from southern Illinois 
southward, and west to the Great Plains. The butterfly 
hibernates early in November, and there are said to be two 
broods annually, the eggs of the first brood being laid 
from the middle of May on, of the second apparently in 
July. 

There is said to be " a decided seasonal dimorphism in 
the two broods of the females/' 

18. Gencs Chlouippe. 
CHLORIPPE CLYTON— THE TAWNY EMPEROR. 

(Apatura clyton, Doxocopa lierse, Apatura herse, Apatura proserpina.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark tawny marked with 
blackish brown, the outer half of the fore wings mostly dark, so 
that the tawny there appears only in two sinuous rows of round- 
ish spots; while the hind wings are wholly tawny except a dark 
outer margin and a sinuous premarginal row of round black 
spots. Under surface light brown, with pallid and blackish 
transverse markings and, on the hind wings only, a sinuous pre- 
marginal series of small, nearly round, blue-pupilled ocelli. Ex- 
panse 2-3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head pale green, with two white facial stripes, 
lateral spines, and the summits crowned by a long spine- like 
tubercle, having numerous long spinules throughout. Body 
naked, minutely papillate throughout, striped in green, yellow, 
and white in continuous and equal bands from head to the forked 
tail. Length 1| inches. 

Chrysalis. — Pale grass-green, with a yellow stripe marking 
the dorsal crest which extends the length of the body, and faint 
oblique stripes on the abdominal segments. Length nearly 1 
inch. 

The eggs, which are subglobular, with about twenty 
slight vertical ribs, and yellowish white, are laid on the 



106 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

under side of the leaves of the food-plant in dense patches 
of from two to five tiers to the number sometimes of five 
hundred; they hatch in eight or nine days. The cater- 
pillars feed on species of Celtis, the hackberry; they do 
not devour the egg-shell, and are gregarious in their first 
three stages, feeding side by side in rows, eating the leaf 
from the tip backward, but leaving the stouter ribs; they 
form a pathway of silk wherever they go, but construct no 
concealment of any kind; after the third moult they dis- 
perse and feed singly. The chrysalis state lasts about ten 
days. The butterfly is a southern species and is therefore 
found only in the southern part of our district, about as 
far north as the Ohio Elver, but occurs in southern Iowa 
and has been once reported from southern Michigan. It 
is single-brooded, appearing on the wing in June and July, 
and the caterpillars hibernate in fallen leaves and crevices 
of bark at about the time of their third moult. 

The species is dimorphic, one form (proserpina) having 
the upper surface of the hind wings, at least in the female, 
obscured with brown, while in the other (clyton) it is not 
so obscured. 

CHLORIPPE CELTIS— THE GRAY EMPEROR. 

(Apatura celtis, Doxocopa lycaon, Apatura lycaon.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings sordid or gray fulvous, 
marked much as in the preceding species, but with the lighter 
spots of the outer half of the fore wings white and therefore very 
conspicuous, a premarginal ocellus in the lower half of the wing 
and, on the hind wings, a distinct sinuous black stripe between 
the dark margin and the row of black spots. On the under sur- 
face it differs in a similar way, and also in the larger, more oval, 
more largely blue-pupilled ocelli of the hind wings, found also to 
some extent (but usually white-pupilled) on the fore wings. 
Expanse about 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head green, with four pale facial stripes, lateral 
spines and the summits crowned by a long, apically forked, 



FAMILY BRUSH FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 107 

scarcely spinous tubercle. Body naked, minutely papillate, yel- 
low-green on the back, blue-green on the sides, with faint paler 
stripes connecting the base of the head tubercles and of the 
deeply forked caudal spines. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Yellow-green or blue-green, finely specked 
throughout with pale yellow, with a cream-yellow line along the 
dorsal crest, which extends the length of the body. Length more 
than £ inch. 

The eggs, which are subglobular, with about eighteen 
slight vertical ribs and pale green, are laid on the under 
side of the leaf of the food-plant, either singly or in small 
clusters of a dozen or less, and hatch in three or four days. 
The caterpillars feed upon Celtis, hackberry, and, lining 
the upper surface of a leaf so as to cause the sides to curl 
slightly upward, are partially concealed from view. The 
chrysalis hangs from seven to ten days. The butterfly is a 
southern species and extends nearly but not quite so far 
north as G. cli/ton. It appears to be double-brooded, but 
some of the caterpillars of the first as well as of the second 
brood hibernate when half grown and, in the opinion of 
Edwards, some butterflies also hibernate. The first brood 
of butterflies of the season appears in June, the second in 
August; the butterfly life is long, so that some are flying 
most of the season, while the caterpillars (except those 
that hibernate) often feed so rapidly that all the earlier 
stages are passed within a month. 

Subfamily Meadow Brovtxs or Satyrs. 

19. Gexus Cissia. 

CISSIA EURYTUS— THE LITTLE WOOD-SATYR. 

(Euptychia eurytus, Megisto eurytus, Hipparchia eurytris, Neonym- 
plia eurytris.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings uniform dark brown, with 
two distant, premarginal, moderately large, circular ocelli, the 
upper one of hind wings small and inconspicuous, sometimes ob- 
solete, Under surface lighter brown, the ocelli larger, all dis- 



108 THE COMMONER BUJTERFLIES. 

tinct, more distinctly ringed with yellow, those of the hind wings 
with satellites ; two distant nearly straight brown lines cross 
the middle of the wings. Expanse If inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dirty white, heavily mottled with brown, 
densely papillate, the summits angulate, almost tuberculate. 
Body naked, but covered with dense pile arising from papillae in 
transverse series, pale brown with a greenish tinge, with a dark 
dorsal stripe and obscure brown longitudinal markings ; a dis- 
tinctly constricted neck and short caudal fork. Length fully f 
inch. 

Chrysalis. — Pallid brown, heavily necked with griseous, the 
abdomen with a pair of distinct, distant, longitudinal ridges. 
Length less than i inch. 

The subglobular, reticulated, very pale green eggs are 
laid singly on blades of grass, living or dead, and hatch in 
about thirteen days. The caterpillars feed upon grasses 
and usually only by night, concealing themselves by day 
among the roots or on dry sticks on the ground; they are 
exceedingly sluggish in movement and are lethargic and 
long-lived, hibernating when more than half grown but 
not mature. The chrysalis hangs for sixteen days. The 
butterfly is a southern species, but extends far northward 
into nearly all the settled parts of Canada except Mani- 
toba, and it has not been reported from Minnesota, though 
it probably occurs there. It haunts groves and open spots 
and roads in the forest, is single-brooded, and flies from 
the last week in May through July, with accessions to the 
brood certainly through June. 



Another species of Cissia, C. sosybius, a southern form, occurs as 
far north as West Virginia. 

20. Gextjs Satyrodes. 
SATYRODES EURYDICE— THE EYED BROWN 

(Argus eurydice, Neonympha can thus, Pararge canthus, Hipparchia 

boisduvalii.) 
Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings mouse-brown, beyond the 
middle paler, especially in the female ; a series of four or five 



FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 109 

small black ocelli distant from the margin. Under surface slaty 
brown, paler beyond a strongly-waved median brown line, the 
ocelli repeated, but larger and more complex. Expanse 2 inches 
or more. 

Caterpillar. — Head green, the coronal tubercles very high, 
conical, red with brown stripes. Body naked, briefly pilose, 
green, longitudinally striped with darker or lighter green ; a dis- 
tinctly constricted neck and long caudal fork. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Green with buff longitudinal stripes ; head acut- 
angulate as seen from sides ; abdomen with no longitudinal 
ridges, the part beyond the wings as long as they are. Length 
f inch. 

The smooth, subglobular, pale green eggs, laid singly, 
hatch in from seven to nine days. The caterpillars, on 
leaving them, sometimes devour a part or the whole of the 
egg-shell and feed on grasses and sedges, having been found 
on Scirpus and Carex; they feed and mature very slowly, 
are at first exceedingly sluggish and when not feeding re- 
main on the blade of grass serving as food; but later in 
life they move about restlessly though slowly and eat with 
more relish, feeding apparently only by day and mostly in 
the early morning; they hibernate in the larval condition, 
nearly grown. The chrysalis hangs for about nine days. 
The butterfly is found from Iowa to the Atlantic, but does 
not appear to extend further south than central Ohio and 
Pennsylvania,* though reaching northward to Hudson 
Bay. It is found in elevated, moist meadows, and is 
single-brooded, flying in July and the first half of August. 

21. Genus Enodia. 

ENODIA PORTLANDIA— THE PEARLY EYE. 

(Satyrus portlandia, Debis portlandia, Hipparchia andromacha.) 
Butterfly. — Wings soft brown, slightly paler beyond a median, 
sinuate (on hind wings doubly arcuate), blackish transverse 
stripe, beneath with a second nearly straight dark stripe nearer 

* It has, however, been once taken by Smythe in South Carolina, 



110 THE COMMONEll BUTTERFLIES. 

the base ; a premarginal series of unequal, mostly very large, 
black ocelli, beneath far more distinctly ocellate than above, and 
also there encircled with a common pale lilac loop. Expanse 2J 
inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head yellowish green, the coronal tubercles 
moderately high, conical, red-tipped. Body naked, green, 
sprinkled with very minute white papillae, with a dark green dor- 
sal line and faint side stripes of yellow ; a distinctly constricted 
neck and long caudal fork. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Green, lighter ventrally, the wing ridges creamy ; 
head acutangulate as seen from side ; abdomen with no longitu- 
dinal ridges, the part beyond the wing-cases much shorter than 
they are. Length f inch. 

The smooth, subglobular, pure white eggs hatch in from 
four to six days. The caterpillar feeds on grasses and 
hibernates when about half grown. The chrysalis hangs 
for thirteen or fourteen days. The butterfly is a forest 
species, very gamesome, and has the habit of pitching on 
tree trunks, head downward. In the North the butterfly 
is single-brooded, flying from the last of June to the first 
of August ; but in the Southern States it is probably double- 
brooded, as it appears in West Virginia in the latter half of 
May, and fresh specimens have been taken in August. 

22. Genus Cerc fonis. 

CERCYONIS ALOPE— THE BLUE EYED GRAYLING. 

(Satyrus alope, Hipparchia alope, Minois alope.) 
Eutterfly. — Wings dark brown, nearly uniform above except 
for a minute, generally blind, ocellus in the lower median inter- 
space of the hind wings and a pair of distant large black ocelli 
enclosed in a very broad premarginal yellow band nearly cross- 
ing the fore wing. On the under surface the markings of the fore 
wing are repeated, but the ocellus of the hind wings forms one 
of a sinuous series of perfect ocelli ; while both wings, except the 
yellow band, are traversed by short transverse dark threads. 
Expanse 2|— 2f inches. 

• Caterpillar. — Head green, papillate, with no summit tubercles. 
Body naked, finely pilose from minute papillae, green, with a faint 



FAMIL Y BR USE-FOOTED B UTTERFLIES. 1 1 1 

slender yellow stripe on the side, the lateral fold also yellow ; no 
distinctly constricted neck, the tail with a slender bat short fork. 
Length 1£ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Pea-green, mottled with paler green, the ridges 
pale straw-yellow, the surface feebly shagreened ; head rectangu- 
late as viewed from the side. Length f inch. 

The eggs, which are short barrel-shaped but tumid, 
with about twenty-five vertical ribs, and honey-yellow, 
afterwards pinkish, are laid singly and hatch in from twenty 
to tw^enty-seven days. The caterpillars do not devour the 
egg-shell, but go into hibernation at once upon escape; in 
the spring they feed upon grasses, but are lethargic and 
mature slowly, not reaching the chrysalis state until July; 
this lasts about a fortnight. The butterfly is limited in its 
northward extension by about the line of the annual 
isotherm of 45° F., being found in the southern half of 
New England and westward to Nebraska. It flies in open 
woods and on the outskirts of shrubbery, is single-brooded, 
appears about the end of the first week in July and flies 
into September. 

CERCYONIS NEPHELE— THE DULL-EYED GRAYLING. 

(Hipparchia nepliele, Erebia nepliele, Satyrus nepliele, Minois 

nephele.) 

Butterfly. — Differs principally from the preceding species in 
the total absence of the yellow band of the fore wings, or its sub- 
stitution by a faint pallid cloud. Expanse 2-2J- inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head emerald-green, papillate, with no summit 
tubercles. Body naked, finely pilose from minute papillae, dull 
yellow-green, the sides slightly darker, with a yellow stripe along 
lateral fold ; no distinctly constricted neck, the tail with a slender 
but short fork. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Yellow-green with white granulations, the ridges 
cream- white ; head rectangulate as viewed from the side. Length 
| inch. 

The eggs, which are like those of O. alope, are laid 
singly and hatch in about twenty-eight days. The cater- 



112 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

pillars live on grass and behave precisely as in -the other 
species, and the chrysalis hangs a fortnight. The butterfly 
flies from Maine to Montana and in Canada, and extends 
southward so as to overlap a little the northern limits of 
C. (dope; it flies in similar places and like it is single- 
brooded, and in northern New England usually appears 
about the middle of July and disappears by the end of 
August. 

Along the belt where this species and the preceding 
overlap, at least in New England, intergrades occur which 
must probably be looked upon as hybrids. 



Cercyords pegala, by some regarded as a form of C. alope, occasion- 
ally occurring in New Jersey, is a southern species in which one of 
the large ocelli of the fore wings is obsolete. 



Other genera of this subfamily occurring in our district are: 
(1) Neonympha, of which there are three species: JV. phocion, a 
southern species which has occurred, rarely, in New Jersey; iV, Cor- 
nelius, also a southern species, taken as far north as West Virginia 
and southern Illinois; and JY". mitchellii, known only in southern 
Michigan and New Jersey. (2) Coenonympha with one species, C. inor- 
nata, a northwestern form which has been taken on Lake Winnipeg 
and even in Newfoundland. And (3) Oeneis, an interesting boreal 
and alpine genus, of which we have no less than four species: Oe. 
Calais, a boreal form found as far south as the southeastern extremity 
of Hudson Bay and southern Newfoundland; Oe . macounii, known 
only from Nepigon on the north shore of Lake Superior and at the 
base of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta; Oe.jutta, a boreal and cir- 
cumpolar species which has been taken in some numbers in restricted 
localities as far south as Ottawa and Quebec in Canada and near 
Bangor, Maine; and finally Oe. semidea, an alpine form found on the 
barren summits of the White Mountains, N. H., above 5000 feet, and 
on the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado above 
12,000 feet. 



Hypatus oachmanii, of the subfamily of Long-Beaks, is a southern 
species, very erratic in appearance, which has sometimes occurred in 
considerable numbers in our district, especially in the West, and even 
so far north as Wisconsin; it has on very rare occasions been taken 
\n New England. 



FAMILY G088AMER-WINQED BUTTERFLIES. 113 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 

The subfamily of Erycinids is represented in our district by the 
genus Calephelis, with a single species, C. borealis, which has once 
or twice been taken in New York. All our other members of this 
family are Lycaenids. 

TRIBE HAIR-STREAKS. 
23. Genus Strymon. 

STRYMON TITUS— THE CORAL HAIR STREAK. 

(Thecla titus, Thecla mopsus.) 

Butterfly. — The hind wings are slightly lobed at the anal 
angle in the male, rounded in the female. Upper surface of 
wings uniform blackish brown, the fore wings of the male with a 
stigma at the end of the cell. Under surface with a sinuous 
series of very small, pale-edged, black spots across the middle of 
the outer half of both wings, and, on the hind wings, a submar- 
ginal series of larger coral-red spots, bordered within and without 
with black. Expanse 1J- inches. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, black. Body 
naked, with fine pile, dull yellowish green, with a rosy patch on 
the back of the thoracic and a larger one on that of the hinder 
abdominal segments. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Pale glossy brown, dotted everywhere with dark 
brown and blackish, the dots forming a faint dorsal stripe on the 
hinder abdominal segments. Length nearly \ inch. 

This lively butterfly is spread over most of our territory, 
though rarely found as far north as Canada and never east 
of western Maine; it is to be found about flowers in open 
places near thickets. Winter is passed in the egg state, 
the eggs being deep green, broadly domed, and thickly 
covered with raised prominences ; they are laid singly upon 



114 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

a twig of the food-plant (wild cherry is the only one cer- 
tainly known, but the caterpillars will eat plum), tucked 
into some protected spot, and hatch just as the foliage 
begins to open in the spring. The caterpillar bites a round 
hole in the top of the egg to escape, does not further disturb 
it, and at first eats circular holes in the parenchyma of the 
leaf, then ploughs jagged tracks through it; it will hang 
by a thread when disturbed, at least when young. It 
reaches maturity by the last of June or later, the chrysalis 
state continues for twelve days, and the first butterflies 
appear about the middle of July; they become abundant 
by the last of the month, and continue to fly throughout 
August. There is but a single brood. 

24. Genus Incisalia. 
INCISALIA NIPHON— THE BANDED ELFIN. 

(Thecla niplion.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark glossy brown, in the 
female deeply tinged except at base by ferruginous, the fore wings 
of the male with an obscure stigma at the end of the cell. Under 
surface of fore wings yellowish brown with some transverse mark- 
ings mostly confined to the upper half, according with those of 
the hind wings, which are cinnamon-brown, crossed before the 
middle by an exceedingly broad slightly darker band, the borders 
of which are still darker and very irregular, the outer edged with 
white ; between it and the margin an almost equally irregular 
series of large ferruginous spots, capped inwardly with blackish. 
Expanse about 1 inch. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, yellowish brown. 
Body naked, with fine pile, green, with two distinct whitish-yel- 
low lines along each side. Length fully f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Mingled blackish and yellowish brown, the dark 
markings of the abdomen extending over the whole surface 
above the spiracles, the delicate raised reticulation black ; a 
slender dorsal ridge on mesothorax. Length nearly § inch. 

This active butterfly is often seen at a considerable height 
above the ground, as about the tops of trees, and is to be 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 115 

looked for in open places in the neighborhood of pine 
woods. In our district it has not been taken west of New 
York, but it extends north into Canada. Winter is passed 
in the chrysalis state, and the butterfly, which is single- 
brooded, appears at the very end of April or early in May 
and seldom flies beyond this month. The eggs are regu- 
larly turban-shaped, rather pale green with white raised 
reticulation, are laid singly in the latter part of May and 
hatch in ten days. The caterpillars feed upon pines and 
one was once found eating into the pod of a garden-pea ; 
they may take a long time to mature, for the chrysalis is 
sometimes not formed until September. 

INCISALIA IRTJS— THE HOARY ELFIN. 

(Thecla irus, Thecla arsace, Tliecla lienrici.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark glossy brown, occa- 
sionally, especially in female, with slight ferruginous tints, the 
fore wings of the male with an , obscure stigma at the end of the 
cell. Under surface reddish brown, darkest on basal half of hind 
wings, the fore wings with slight markings consonant with those 
of the hind wings, the latter with the basal color outwardly lim- 
ited by a strongly indented line, beyond which, especially on the 
inner side, a hoary bloom is conspicuous by a sprinkling of lilac 
scales ; an arcuate series of dusky lunules in middle of outer half. 
Expanse fully 1 inch. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, yellowish green. 
Body naked, with fine pile, yellow-green above, red-brown on 
sides, threaded by a faint green line, green on the lateral fold. 
Length \ inch. 

Chrysalis. — Black or brown-black with obscure red bands ; a 
narrow black stripe on each side in the middle of the abdomen, 
not extending to the thorax ; a slender dorsal ridge on mesotho- 
rax. Length ^ inch. 

This butterfly is about the least active of the lively group 
of Hair-Streaks and is found about shrubbery in roads or 
open spots. It is a southern form, but occurs as far north 



116 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

as southern Wisconsin in the West and central New York 
in the East. It hibernates as a chrysalis, and the but- 
terfly, which is single-brooded, appears about the last week 
in April, the females about a week later than the males, 
though some do not make their appearance much before 
June, after the middle of which month they disappear. 
The eggs are regularly turban-shaped, deep green, with pale- 
green raised reticulation, and are laid early in June, per- 
haps earlier, at the base of the flower-stem of the food- 
plant, and hatch in less than a week. The caterpillar feeds 
upon the wild plum and possibly other plants, boring into 
the fruit and inserting its body as far as needed until the 
entire inside of the fruit is devoured. 



INCISALIA AUGUSTUS— THE BROWN ELFIN. 

(Thecla augustus.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark slate-brown, the fore 
wings of the male with an obscure stigma at the end of the cell. 
Under surface of fore wings reddish tawny at base, ochraceous 
beyond, separated by a nearly straight extramesial brown stripe ; 
of hind wings dark reddish tawny, much infuscated on basal 
half, which is limited by a deeply indented line ; a series of faint 
dusky dots in middle of outer half. Expanse about 1 inch. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute. Body naked, with 
fine pile, carmine-red. Length \ inch. 

Chrysalis. — Pitchy brown with sparsely-scattered fuscous spots, 
on the abdomen forming two rows on each side ; tracery of raised 
lines obscure fuscous; a slender dorsal ridge on mesothorax. 
Length f inch. 

The butterfly inhabits shrubby rocky heaths, alights by 
preference on dead vegetation or rocks, a protective resem- 
blance to which will be found in its coloring, and at once 
on alighting (like many other Hair-Streaks) slides the up- 
raised hind wings repeatedly past each other, while it sidles 
about in a twitching manner. It is a northern insect found 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 117 

mostly in Canada and extending southward over the whole 
of New England and along the Appalachian chain, but 
not known elsewhere in the East. The butterfly is single- 
brooded and appears from the wintering chrysalis toward 
the end of April or very early in May, preceding by a few 
days the last species (where both occur), and flying till the 
middle of June. Eggs are laid in May or June, but what 
the caterpillar feeds on is unknown; it probably matures 
by the middle of July, and the rest of the year is spent in 
chrysalis. 

25. Genus Uranotes. 
URANOTES MELINTJS— THE GRAY HAIR-STREAK. 

(Strymon melinus, Thecla melinus, Thecla kyperici, Thecla favonius, 
Thecla huniuli.) 

Butterfly. — Hind wings with a very long thread-like tail and a 
smaller secondary one. Upper surface of wings bluish black, the 
hind wings with a large orange lunule seated on a marginal black 
spot, between which latter and the anal angle is a similar blue- 
edged black spot. Under surface pearly clay-brown, the hind 
wings with two orange spots near anal angle, more or less enclos- 
ing marginal black spots, separated by blue and interrupting the 
submarginal series of blackish spots which crosses both wings ; 
an extramesial series of nearly connected slender black bars edged 
without with white, within faintly with orange, nearly straight on 
fore wings, faintly W -shaped on hind wings. Expanse 1J inches. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute. Body naked, pur- 
plish white without markings. Length f inch or more. 

Chrysalis. — Testaceous, discolored and flecked with dark 
fuscous ; abdomen much wider than thorax, its longest hairs 
nearly half as long as the segments. Length f ully .-£■ inch. 

This is the only one of our Hair-Streaks which flies 
almost continuously from May to September; it is found 
throughout our district, although it has very rarely been 
taken in any part of Canada; it is to be looked for about 
shrubbery and vines. The insect is double-brooded and 



118 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

long-lived, which accounts for its continuous presence; it 
first appears in the early days of May and this brood con- 
tinues some way into June, while the second brood appears 
early in July and flies throughout August and sometimes 
far into September. The eggs are shaped like sea-urchins, 
and are very delicately reticulate with raised lines and pea- 
green. The caterpillars feed on the heads of hops and on 
the pods of beans, Cynoglossum and other plants ; they 
are very active when young and change their form con- 
siderably, leech-like, when moving about. It is altogether 
probable that the insect winters in the chrysalis. 

26. Genus Mitura. 
MITTJRA DAMON— THE OLIVE HAIR-STREAK. 

(Thecla danion, Thela smilacis, Thecla auburniana.) 

Butterfly. — Fore wings of male with a gray stigma at tip of 
cell ; hind wings with a moderately long thread-like tail. Upper 
surface of wings blackish brown, the larger part of the disk, 
excepting the veins, dull tawny. Under surface green, the fore 
wings with a submarginal white stripe edged within with reddish, 
the hind wings with two basal white bars edged without, and a 
very tortuous extramesial white stripe edged within, with reddish, 
besides a slender white margin and a marginal series of powdery 
spots enlarging toward the anal angle and made up of mingled 
white, black, and red scales in subocellate form. Expanse fully 
1 inch. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, pale green. Body 
naked, pilose, dark green, with three rows of white or whitish 
slightly oblique dashes on each side. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Wood-brown, heavily and irregularly marked with 
blackish fuscous, the abdomen much wider than the thorax, 
tinged with ferruginous, its longest hairs not more than a third 
the length of the segments. Length fully \ inch. 

This is a southern butterfly, flying about as far north as 
the latitude of 42° and in the West a little further. It 
seems to occur only in the vicinity of red cedars, on which 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 119 

the caterpillar feeds, and prefers a height of about twenty 
feet from the ground, near the tops of the cedars, where 
its active play with its fellows is a very pretty sight. The 
insect is partly single-, partly double-brooded, and hibernates 
in the chrysalis state; the earliest butterflies appear about 
the first of May and continue on the wing throughout 
June. The eggs, which are turban-shaped with a broad 
saucer-like depression above, pale bluish green in color and 
studded with knobs, are laid singly near the tips of the 
blossoming twigs, tucked into chinks, and hatch in about 
a week. The caterpillar is of precisely the color of the 
cedar, feeds on the tips, its head while feeding covered by 
the segment behind as by a cowl, and takes about five 
weeks to mature. The caterpillars begin to go into 
chrysalis toward the end of June; some of these chrysalids 
hibernate, while others give out the butterfly in about a 
fortnight, the new brood of butterflies, much less abundant 
than the first, appearing toward the end of July and con- 
tinuing through August. 

27. Genus Thecla. 

THECLA LIPAROPS— THE STRIPED HAIR STREAK. 

(Thecla strigosa.) 

Butterfly. — Fore wings of male with a discal stigma ; hiud 
wings with a short thread-like tail and the indication of a supple- 
mentary one. Upper surface of wings blackish brown. Under 
surface dark brown, the disk crossed by four subequidistant 
more or less complete and subcontinuous white threads shifted in 
position below the median veins, besides the red, blue, and black, 
white-edged, lunulate marginal markings common to the genus. 
Expanse 1J inches. 

Caterpillar.— Onisciform. Head minute, pale brown with a 
transverse facial black belt. Body naked, pilose, grass-green, 
very faintly and obliquely striped with greenish yellow. Length 
nearly \ inch. 

Chrysalis. — Dull yellowish brown, dotted with brownish 



120 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

fuscous, the reticulation darker ; abdomen scarcely wider than 
the thorax, its hairs half as long as the segments. Length fully 
i inch. 

This pretty butterfly is widely distributed throughout 
nearly all our district, failing in the northernmost parts 
and nowhere very abundant; it has an active nervous 
flight and is to be looked for in the vicinity of thickets. 
It is single-brooded, hibernating in the egg state. The 
eggs are laid on the terminal twigs of the food-plant under 
the lea of some prominence like a leaf-scar and hatch early 
in May. The food-plants of the caterpillar are various: 
thorn, shadbush, and other Eosaceous plants, the common 
swamp blueberry and doubtless other species of Vaccinium, 
oaks and willows; Vaccinium and shadbush are probably 
its favorites. At first the young caterpillar eats little holes 
through the leaf; afterwards eats holes or bites the edge 
indifferently, or it may bore into fruit like plums and 
extract the softer parts; it matures late in June, the 
chrysalis state lasts from twelve to sixteen days, and the 
first butterflies appear early in July, sometimes not until 
the middle of the month, and remain on the wing but a 
very short time, being rarely seen in August. 

THECLA CALANUS— THE BANDED HAIR STREAK. 

(Thecla falacer, Thecla inorata.) 

Butterfly.— Fore wings of male with a discal stigma ; hind 
wings with a short thread-like tail. Upper surface of wings 
blackish brown. Under surface slate-brown, the disk crossed by 
four subcontinuous white threads in two distant pairs, the inner 
pair brief, the outer crossing the wing with tolerable regularity 
but in a broken fashion, each pair including a darker ground ; 
besides which are the marginal markings peculiar to the genus. 
Expanse 11 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, very pale green. 
Body naked, pilose, nearly equal and tapering but little behind, 
bright grass-green, with lighter and darker green longitudinal 



FAMILY GOSSAMER- WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 121 

lilies, or pinkish brown without markings or with heavy dark 
markings in front and behind. Length 4 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Lighter or darker brown, more or less sprinkled 
with blackish fuscous dots and blotches and with an obscure 
dorsal stripe on abdomen ; reticulation with larger meshes than 
in the other species and not elevated at points of intersection ; 
abdomen scarcely wider than the thorax, its hairs not more than 
one fourth the length of the segments. Length about f inch. 

This butterfly is found about shrubbery in all parts of our 
district, and is single-brooded, hibernating in all probabil- 
ity in the egg, though eggs have been known to hatch the 
same season, so that it may also hibernate in an early larval 
stage. The eggs are pale green, of a turban shape and 
studded profusely with knobs; they hatch in a few days if in 
the same season, or mature early in the spring; the cater- 
pillars, which feed on oaks, hickory, and butternut, eat 
holes in the leaves and mature the last of June and early 
in July, the chrysalis state continues from fourteen to 
twenty days, and the butterflies aj3pear at the end of June 
or early in July, and are to be found through August and 
occasionally in September. Eggs are known to be laid all 
through July and early in August. 

THECLA ED WARDSII— EDWARDS'S HAIR- STREAK. 

Butterfly. — Fore wings of male with a discal stigma; hind 
wings with a short thread-like tail. Upper surface of wings very 
dark brown. Under surface slate-brown, the extremity of the 
cell marked by a dark bar edged with white, and, besides the 
marginal markings peculiar to the genus, an extramesial series of 
transversely oval, dark brown, white-ringed spots. Expanse 11- 
inch. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, black. Body naked, 
pilose, tapering but little posteriorly, dark brown marked with 
yellowish brown, with a broad dorsal dark stripe. Length 
J inch. 

Chrysalis. — Yellowish brown, streaked and blotched with 
darker brown, with a dark obscure band on the sides; reticula- 



122 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

tion with smaller meshes than usual, elevated at points of inter- 
seetion; abdomen scarcely wider than thorax, its hairs not more 
than one fourth the length of the segments. Length f inch. 

So far as known, this butterfly inhabits only a narrow 
strip across the Eastern United States, being rarely found 
north of lat. 42° or south of 40°; but it is reported in the 
extreme West beyond our district at widely remote spots, 
even in the Canadian Kockies. It is an exceedingly lively 
insect, especially the male, and the story of its life is very 
similar to that of the last species. It hibernates in the 
egg state, feeds on oak, biting holes in the leaves, and flies 
from July to September. As in T. calanus, eggs have been 
known to hatch the same season. 

THECLA ACADICA— THE ACADIAN HAIR-STREAK. 

(Thecla calif ornica, Thecla souhegan, Thecla bonis, Thecla cygnus.) 

Butterfly. — Fore wings of male with a discal stigma; hind 
wings with a long thread-like tail. Upper surface lustrous dark 
slate-brown, with an orange lunule on outer margin of hind 
wings. Under surface pearl-gray with a white-edged narrow 
bar at end of cell, an extramesial series of white-edged, round, 
occasionally oval, black spots, and the usual marginal markings 
of the genus, here more conspicuous, more continuous, and with 
more orange than usual. Expanse 1^ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, pale greenish brown. 
Body naked, pilose, tapering considerably behind, grass-green, 
with many oblique yellowish stripes on the sides. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Dull yellowish brown, spotted with blackish brown, 
and with a dark dorsal stripe; reticulation with larger meshes than 
usual, elevated at intersection; abdomen scarcely wider than 
thorax, its hairs but little more than a fourth the length of 
the segments. Length f inch. 

The distribution of this butterfly in the East is similar to 
that of the preceding sj)ecies except that the belt is removed 
a little further north, the butterfly being found a short 
distance only on either side of the Canadian border; it is 



FAMILY GOSSAMER- WING ED BUTTERFLIES. 123 

to be found about thickets on the borders of streams where 
willows, the food-plant of the caterpillar, abound. The 
caterpillars are very supple in their movements, much like 
a snail, and eat the willow leaves from the edges inward. 
The butterfly generally appears just before the middle of 
July, occasionally earlier, and remains upon the wing 
during August and possibly later. The eggs then remain 
unhatched until spring, when the caterpillars attack the 
tender foliage; they mature at the usual rate, and after 
from eight to fourteen days in the chrysalis, the butter- 
flies appear. 



Thecla Ontario is another species of the genus occurring in our 
district, but is exceedingly rare, and is known chiefly from Ontario 
and New England; and T. lorata, a great rarity known only from 
Virginia, possibly not distinct from T. inorata. 



Other genera of Hair- Streaks found in our territory are : Erora, 
with one species, E. laeta,& great rarity though found in widely distant 
places and to be looked for anywhere; Callicista, represented by 
G. columella, a species of the Gulf States, once taken at Buffalo, N. Y. ; 
Calycopis, with one species, G. cecrops, a southern species occurring 
as far north as Kentucky and West Virginia; Eupsyche, one southern 
species of which, E. m-album, has occasionally been taken in New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio; and Atlides, with one species, A. 
lialesus, a somewhat common species of the extreme South, which has 
been taken in Illinois. 



TRIBE BLUES. 

28. Genus Everes. 

EVERES COMYNTAS— THE TAILED BLUE. 

(Polyommatus comyntas, Argus comyntas, Lycaena comyntas.) 

Butterfly. — Hind wings with a short thread-like tail. Upper 
surface of wings either dark violet (male) or dark brown (female), 
the hind wings with a marginal series of dark spots, of which the 
one next the tail is surmounted with orange. Under surface 
satin-gray, with a very delicate extramesial series of dark brown 



124 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

spots, and with marginal spots much as above. Expanse about 
1 inch. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, black.- Body naked, 
pilose, dark green specked with pale points, with a fuscous dorsal 
stripe, and on either side obscure oblique fuscous markings; last 
segment broad and flattened. Length nearly } inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body more than three times as long as broad, pale 
green, the abdomen brownish yellow, with an interrupted blackish 
dorsal stripe, and on each side a row of oblique blackish dashes. 
Length fully i inch. 

This butterfly, found everywhere, is a lively insect, often 
difficult to follow in its motion among the herbage, above 
which, unless very low, it is seldom seen. Its eggs, which 
are sea-urchin-shaj)ed, pea-green, and studded with pale 
prominences, are laid singly, tucked into crevices about the 
inflorescence of flowers of the Leguminous plants on which 
the caterpillar feeds — Lespedeza, Desmodium, clover, etc. — 
and hatch in four days or less; the caterpillar seems to pre- 
fer the flower-heads and tender leaves for food and will 
burrow into the calyx in search of nutriment. The insect 
is triple-brooded : the first butterflies appear early in May, 
soon become plenty, and disappear some time in the first 
half of June; the caterpillars attain their growth rapidly, 
the chrysalis state is short, and in the first half of July 
the butterflies of the second brood appear and continue to 
emerge throughout the month; the same story is again re- 
peated, the chrysalis continuing from nine to eleven days, 
and the third generation makes its aj>pearance after the 
middle of August w 7 hile some worn butterflies of the second 
brood are still on the wing; the third brood may still be 
found until after the middle of September. How the 
winter is passed is not known, but probably as a full-grown 
caterpillar. Further north it is probable that there are but 
two broods, as is the case in the White Mountains of New 
Hampshire. 

In southern regions, and as far north as Long Island, 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 125 

there are two kinds of females, one almost uniformly dark 
on the upper surface as described above, the other more 
nearly resembling the male, being blue with broad black 
margins. 

29. Genus Cyaniris. 

CYANIRIS PSEUDARGIOLUS— THE SPRING AZURE. 

(Lycaena pseudargiolus, Cupido pseudargiolus, Polyoniinatus lucia, 
Lycaena violacea, Lycaena neglecta.) 

Butterfly.— Hind wings with no tails. Upper surface of wings 
either pale violet with a slight brownish rim or slate-brown 
(male), or else pallid, more or less tinged with violet, with a very 
broad brown edging to the fore wings both on costal and outer 
margins (female). Under surface pale ash-gray with brown 
markings very variable in extent, especially upon the hind wing, 
the markings of the disk here varying from a thread terminating 
the cell and an extramesial series of delicate dots, to a large ir- 
regularly-margined blotch covering most of the surface, and only 
separated from similarly heavy marginal markings by a slender, 
dentate, extramesial, pallid band. Expanse 1-li inches. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, dark brown. Body 
naked, pilose, white, with a dusky dorsal line and marked with 
greenish on the sides ; last segment comparatively slender and but 
moderately depressed. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis.— Body less than three times as long as broad, light 
brownish yellow, with a faint dusky dorsal line, and more or less 
marked minutely with blackish. Length nearly J- inch. 

This highly variable butterfly is found over an immense 
territory (much more than our district), and the distribution 
and times of appearance of the different forms which it 
assumes are mentioned in the Introduction (see p. 18). It 
occurs in and at the borders of open deciduous woods or by 
roadsides through them, often settling (with much waver- 
ing) in crowds about damp spots. The eggs, which closely 
resemble those of Everes comyntas in color and markings, 
but are not so flat, are laid singly on the buds or the calyx 
of the flowers of the plant on which the caterpillar is to 



126 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

feed, tucked in between the flowers well out of sight, and 
hatch in from four to eight days, according to the season. 
The plants used as food by the caterpillars are extremely 
various, those already known belonging to as many as fif- 
teen different families, but their principal food is thought 
to be Cornus in the early spring, Cimicifuga in June, and 
Actinomeris later in the season, a plant in, or soon to be 
in, flower being chosen by the parent; the caterpillars eat 
buds, flowers, and leaves indiscriminately, but preferably 
bore into the calyx of flowers and eat out the heart ; they 
are accompanied by ants, which tend them carefully and 
caress them with their antennae to induce them to emit 
from their abdominal glands the honeyed secretions thence 
exuded and which the ants lap up. The butterfly is one 
of the first to appear fresh from the chrysalis in the spring; 
the earliest (form lucia) generally appear about the middle 
of April, and in the first week of May the numbers are 
materially increased by the advent of the form violacea, 
and both fly together through this month, further accom- 
panied, after the middle of May, by the third form, neglec- 
ta, so that in the last half of this month all may be taken 
together. In June, lucia is rarely seen and the others dis- 
appear one after the other; but in July the second brood 
proper appears, consisting wholly of neglecta, and contin- 
ues to emerge from the chrysalis all through this month; 
it is not so abundant, however, as the preceding, though 
butterflies may be found even into September. The cater r 
pillars of the second brood when full-fed go into chrysalis, 
in which state they pass the winter; the summer chrysalids 
give birth to butterflies generally in ten or eleven days. 
The above statement is made for southern New England 
only; there is probably some variation for these dates for 
places with cooler or warmer climates, for some points re- 
garding which see the Introduction. 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 127 

Two other genera of Blues also occur in our district, each with two 
species : Nomiades, represented by a boreal species, N. couperi, not un- 
common about the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a southern form, 
N. lygdamus, sometimes found in Ohio and even in Michigan and 
Wisconsin ; and Rusticus, likewise represented by a boreal species, 
R. sciidderii, taken as far south as Albany, N. Y. , and a southern, 
R. st rial us, first described from Texas and little known, but said to 
have been also taken at Racine, Wisconsin. 

TRIBE COPPERS. 

30. Genus Chrysopiianus. 

CHRYSOPHANUS THOE— THE BRONZE COPPER. 

(Polyommatus thoe, Chrysopiianus hyllus.) 
Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings coppery brown (male) or 
blackish brown (female), the female with all but the outer border 
of the fore wings orange fulvous and marked with rows of small 
black spots which are smaller and obscure in the male; both sexes 
have an orange band next the outer border of the hind wings. 
Under surface of fore wings fulvous, of hind wings silvery gray, 
bordered as above; both wings have a double submarginal series 
and an extramesial tortuous series of blackish spots, besides a 
number of others, mostly round, nearer the base. Expanse If 
inches or more. 

Caterpillar. — Onisciform. Head minute, pale. Body bright 
transparent yellowish green having a velvety appearance, with a 
dark green dorsal stripe edged with yellow, the whole profusely 
dotted with minute white mushroom -shaped appendages. Length 
nearly 1 inch. (From unpublished notes of J. Fletcher.) 

Chrysalis. — Light yellowish brown, the abdomen with six longi- 
tudinal series of obscure fuscous dots on each side (including 
those beneath) and a few other dots on the thorax. Length more 
than £ inch. 

This butterfly, nowhere abundant, is nevertheless found 
throughout our district except in the eastern half of New 
England, and eastward; it frequents moist places and flies 
with less activity than its sprightly allies. It is double- 
brooded, wintering in the egg state, the butterflies appear- 
ing late in June, laying their eggs early in July and con- 
tinuing through the month. The second brood flies from 
the middle of August to the middle of September. The 



128 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

pale-green eggs are shaped like a tiny sea-urchin and are 
laid singly on the seed-pods of the food-plants, Polygonum 
and Kumex. 

31. Genus Epidemia. 

EPIDEMIA EPIXANTHE— THE PURPLE DISK. 

(Polyornrnotus epixanthe, Chrysoplianus epixanthe, Lycaena epix- 

anthe.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark brown, the male hav- 
ing a burnished chocolate tint with violaceous reflections on the 
basal half, with three or four blackish dots on the disk. Under 
surface pale straw-yellow with blackish markings, heavier on the 
fore than on the hind wings, similar to those of Chrysoplianus 
thoe, and on the hind wings a marginal series of slight orange 
lunules. Expanse fully 1 inch. 

Caterpillar and Chrysalis unknown. 

This is a very local butterfly, found only in peaty 
meadows, but there often very abundant. It is found 
all over New England and its borders and near the Cana- 
dian boundary westward to the Great Lakes and beyond, 
but its distribution there is imperfectly known; it is said 
to have been taken in Kansas. It seems to be single- 
brooded, appearing at the end of June, continuing to 
emerge from the chrysalis until beyond the middle of July 
and flying until the end of the first week in August. The 
eggs, which are very similar to those of Chrysophanus thoe, 
are laid in July, singly, and apparently do not hatch until 
the next season. The caterpillar will probably be found to 
feed upon some dock or knot-weed. 



Two other species of Epidemia inhabit our district: E. dorcas, found 
in its northernmost limits, and E. helloides, a Pacific coast species re- 
ported to be found in Iowa. 

32. Genus Heodes. 
HEODES HYPOPHLiEAS— THE AMERICAN COPPER 

(Chrysophanus hypophlaeas, Chrysophanus americanus.) 
Butterfly. — Upper surface of the fore wings fiery red, the outer 
border blackish brown; this is reversed on the hind wings, though 



FAMILY GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 129 

here the red border is interrupted by dark marginal spots; the 
fore wings are also furnished with two black bars in the cell and 
an extramesial series of similar oblique bars. Under surface 
light brown, tinged on the disk of the fore wings with red and 
spotted as above ; the hind wings are traversed by a submarginal 
sinuous red stripe, an extramesial sinuous series, and an intra- 
mesial straight series of black dots. Expanse 1-1-i inches. 

Caterpillar. — Disciform. Head minute, yellowish green. 
Body naked, pilose, grass-green with a faint dusky dorsal line and 
darker, sometimes roseate, along the middle of the sides. Length 
nearly f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Light brown or livid, tinged slightly with yellow- 
ish green, dotted with blackish, the dots on the abdomen arranged 
longitudinally in a dorsal series and on either side, above and in- 
cluding the spiracles, five series, sometimes faint. Length nearly 
f inch. 

This lively and pugnacious butterfly is found everywhere 
in our district, always in the full sunshine. Even the 
lovers of nature shut up within the walls of our large cities 
can enjoy in any public park a sight of these ubiquitous 
flutterers, can watch them in their hymeneal dance as they 
toss themselves up and down in contra-unison and then 
dash away to repeat the sport elsewhere; they are fearless 
little brilliants and heed not an approaching footstep until 
just upon them. They are double-brooded in the northern, 
triple-brooded in the southern, part of our district, changing 
in New England at about the latitude of Concord, N". H. 
In the double-brooded district, the first brood usually ap- 
pears in the first week of June and lasts until the middle 
of July; the second appears at about the close of the first 
week of August and flies nearly through September. In 
the triple-brooded district it first appears about the middle 
of May and continues nearly to the end of June; the next 
brood flies from about the end of the first week of July 
until the middle or latter part of August; the third appears 
toward the end of August and flies through September. 
Winter is passed in the chrysalis state, or possibly, in some 



130 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

cases, the full-grown caterpillar may hibernate. The eggs, 
which are pale green, nearly hemispherical, with very large 
White-walled cells, are laid singly on the stem or leaf of the 
sorrel, the food-plant of the caterpillar, and hatch in from 
six to ten days according to the season. In escaping from 
the egg) the caterpillar eats only a small hole at the top, 
and then feeds on the thick parenchyma of the leaf, 
ploughing its way, first on the under, afterwards indiffer- 
ently on the upper or the under surface. It goes to the 
under surface of stones to change to chrysalis, and this 
state continues, except in winter, from ten to nineteen days 
according to the season. 

33. Genus Feniseca. 

FENISECA TARQUINIUS— THE WANDERER. 

(Polyommatus tarquinius, Chrysophanus tarquinius, Polyommatus 
porsenna, Polyommatus crataegi.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings pale fulvous, broadly and, 
especially on the fore wings, irregularly marked with dark brown, 
marginal on the fore wings, basal on the hiud wings, varying 
greatly in the amount of encroachment on the fulvous disk. 
Under surface pale reddish brown, the fore wings pale on the 
disk, and both wings, but especially the hind pair, mottled with 
pretty large, white-edged, dark spots, arranged on the hind wings 
in transverse series. Expanse nearly 1} inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head small, pale green. Body largest in the 
middle and tapering in each direction, naked except for rather 
short hairs arranged in transverse patches across each segment, 
and smoky brown marked with smoky stripes. Length nearly \ 
inch. 

Chrysalis. — Plump with swollen abdomen, which is covered 
with slight bosses and the hinder extremity flattened and lateral- 
ly expanded ; pallid on the thorax, flecked with brown, dark 
greenish brown on the abdomen, flecked or blotched with cream 
yellow. Length \ inch. 

This is a southern butterfly, which, however, extends to 
the northernmost parts of our district in the East, but in 



FAMILY GOSSAMER- WING ED BUTTERFLIES. 131 

the West has not been found nearly so far north. It 
occurs only in the vicinity of water where alders flourish 
and is consequently a local insect and flies but short dis- 
tances. The most remarkable feature in its life-history is 
the food of the caterpillar, it being the first and almost the 
only case known among butterflies in any part of the world 
of a strictly carnivorous habit ; its food is confined to plant- 
lice (aphides) and especially those kinds which exude a 
fluffy secretion and live in close colonies; into these 
colonies the caterpillar intrudes, ploughing its way into 
the mass, and as one after another of the bodies of its vic- 
tims are sucked dry, their skins are utilized by being 
involved in the thin loose lining of silken tissue which the 
caterpillar weaves as it works its way. With a view to this 
life the butterfly lays its eggs singly upon the twigs of the 
plant infested by the colonies of plant-lice and in their im- 
mediate vicinity or even directly among them. These eggs 
are of a flattened spheroidal shape with exceedingly delicate 
reticulation and of a faint green color, nearly pellucid, and 
hatch in three or four days. The caterpillars attain their 
growth with unusual rapidity and moult but three times, 
so that sometimes the chrysalis state is assumed within a 
fortnight of the laying of the eggs from which the cater- 
pillars are born ; the chrysalis, however, hangs an ordinary 
length of time, from eight to eleven days. In our district 
there seem to be three broods of this butterfly, which 
hibernates as a chrysalis, though possibly also as a butter- 
fly; farther south the number of broods is probably greater. 
With us the first brood flies from the latter part of May to 
the middle of June; the second brood appears early in 
July and flies into August ; the third from the middle of 
August until near the end of September. 



Another and western genus of Coppers, Gaeides, is represented in 
our district by G. dione, which occurs from Missouri to Iowa. 



132 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 

Subfamily Pierids. 

TRIBE RED-HORNS OR YELLOWS. 

34. Genus Callidryas. 

CALLIDRYAS EUBULE— THE CLOUDLESS SULPHUR. 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings canary-yellow, the tips of 
the nervules, especially in the females and on the fore wings, 
touched with dark brown. Under surface of a similar but less 
pure color more or less, in the female often very much, marked 
by scattered flecks of ferruginous in somewhat definite transverse 
series ; at the tip of the cell a more distinct small ferruginous 
spot, silver-pupilled on the hind wing. Expanse 2^-3 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head pale green. Body naked but sparsely pilose, 
pale green with a bluish tinge, especially above, and a yellow 
stigmatal band ; each section of the segments with a straight 
transverse row of small, black, distant papillae. Length If 
inches. 

Chrysalis. —Body as a whole distinctly bent in the middle ; 
wing-cases excessively protuberant ; frontal horn very long ; color 
usually pale glaucous green with yellow stripes, but sometimes 
pale yellowish green or roseate, minutely dotted on back with 
lighter points. Length 14- inches. 

This is a southern butterfly, very abundant in our South- 
ern States and extending northward into the southern por- 
tions of our district, occasionally as far north as southern 
New York. In the South it sometimes migrates in flocks, 
apparently always in a southern direction. It seems to be 
double-brooded, the second brood much more abundant 
than the first, and as the latter is the only one which has 
been seen in the North (in August), its occurrence in our 
district may be entirely due to migration, which its known 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 133 

habits render not improbable; in what stage it hibernates 
is unknown, but probably as a butterfly, or else as a cater- 
pillar. The eggs, which are yellow, subfusiform, about 
twice as high as broad and with about seventeen vertical 
ribs, are laid singly on the more tender leaves of the food- 
plant, Cassia. The chrysalis hangs ten or twelve days. 
The male butterfly has an odor like violets. 



Two other species of Callidryas occur rarely in the extreme south- 
ern limits of our district, in the West: C. sennae and G. philea. 

35. GrENUS Zerene. 
ZERENE CAESONIA— THE DOG'S HEAD. 

(Colias caesonia, Meganostoma caesonia, Zerene cesonia.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings lemon-yellow, the fore 
wings having the outer border very broadly margined with black, 
its inner limit so deeply indented, especially in the male, that, 
with the black dusting of the basal part of the cell and a large 
round black spot at the tip of the cell, a dog's head is vividly 
outlined, the round spot forming the eye. Under surface almost 
uniform yellow, more or less edged and dotted with roseate, the 
black spot of the fore wings repeated, here with a silvery pupil, 
and the hind wings with a pair of silver spots enclosed in a 
roseate or ferruginous nebula. Expanse 2l—2f inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head yellow-green. Body naked but sparsely 
pilose, yellow-green, usually with narrow transverse bands of 
yellow or black or both, and studded on each segment with a 
single transverse series of black or concolorous papillae. Length 
nearly £ inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body not bent in the middle, the wing-cases only 
moderately protuberant, frontal horn short; bluish green with 
whitish creases and above with two longitudinal rows of black 
dots, the wings dark green. Length nearly -f inch. 

This, a common species in the Southern States and 
especially in the West, occurs in some abundance in the 
southernmost parts of our district, and has been found as 
far north as Pennsylvania, southern Ontario, Wisconsin, 



134 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

and Kansas. The eggs, which are thick fusiform, with 
about eighteen low vertical ribs and yellow-green in color, 
are laid singly on the under side of the tender end-leaflets 
of Amorpha and hatch in about four days. The chrysalis 
hangs from seven to thirteen days. The butterfly is 
apparently at least double-brooded and shows some indi- 
cations of seasonal dimorphism, the later brood or broods 
having much more roseate on the under surface than the 
earliest. It is on the wing during every month from April 
to November, but much is still to be learned of its exact 
life-history. 

36. Genus Eurymus. 
EURYMUS PHILODICE— THE CLOUDED SULPHUR. 

(Colias philodice, Zerene anthyale.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings yellow, the fore wings with 
a broad, blackish brown outer margin, incurved at the extremi- 
ties (and in the female broken by yellow spots), together with a 
small black spot at the tip of the cell ; hind wings with a similar 
border narrowing at the extremities and in the female much 
narrower and less pure than in the male, in addition to which is 
a pale orange circular spot at the tip of the cell. Under surface 
sulphur-yellow, the spots at the tip of the cells repeated, on the 
fore wings black with a transverse white dash in the centre, on the 
hind wings ferruginous with a large silver pupil and sometimes 
accompanied above by a similar satellite. Expanse about 2 
inches. 
. Caterpillar. — Head grass-green with white dots. Body naked, 
pilose, grass-green, with a faint darker dorsal line and a pale 
roseate stigmatal band, usually bordered beneath in the middle 
of most of the segments with velvety black; whole body covered 
with raised points. Length more than 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body not bent in the middle, the wing-cases but 
little protuberant; frontal horn short conical, the colors on either 
side of its lateral ridge similar; color of body grass-green, ver- 
miculate with yellowish white, with a narrow yellowish stigmatal 
stripe. Length J inch. 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 135 

This is our commonest butterfly, found everywhere in 
open fields, flying rapidly in a zigzag course but little 
above the herbage, and delighting to assemble in flocks at 
the edges of pools of standing water, particularly in road- 
ways. It has three broods each year, and probably hiber- 
nates as a nearly full-grown caterpillar. The first brood, 
which is the least numerous, appears at the end of April 
unless delayed by inclement weather, the males about ten 
days before the females; its period of greatest abundance 
is toward the end of May, and early in June only worn 
specimens can be found; the second brood appears at the 
end of June and flies until the third brood appears in the 
latter half of August, and this last is on the wing until the 
first severe frosts appear. The eggs are laid singly on the 
upper side of clover-leaves near the middle, and hatch in 
four or five days; they are fusiform with about eighteen 
vertical ribs and numerous cross lines; when laid whitish, 
then faint yellowish green, they turn to a salmon-color, 
at first faint, afterwards deep, and just before hatching 
become of a leaden hue. The escaping caterpillar eats its 
way out at the side, devours a small additional portion of 
the shell, and then attacks the leaf, resting always upon 
the midrib while young, on the stalk when older. The 
chrysalis hangs from nine to eleven days. 

The females are dimorphic, many being of a pallid 
whitish hue instead of yellow, a distinction rarely found in 
the first brood. One or two instances have occurred of 
pallid males. 

EURYMUS EURYTHEME— THE ORANGE SULPHUR. 

(Colias eurytlieme, Colias clirysotlierne, Colias keewaydin, Colias 
aniphidusa, etc.) 

Butterfly. — Differs principally from the foregoing in having 
the upper surface of the wings orange instead of yellow, and in 
being tinged with orange beneath. Expanse nearly 2-J- inches. 



136 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

Caterpillar. — Head grass-green with black dots. Body naked, 
pilose, grass-green with a faint dorsal line and a white stigmatal 
stripe, which is tracked through the middle by a discontinuous 
thread of yellow or red and followed beneath by scattered dusky 
markings, sometimes collected in the middle of the segments into 
inky spots; whole body covered with raised points. Length 1£ 
inches. 

Chrysalis. — Body not bent in the middle, the wing-cases but 
little protuberant; frontal horn short conical, the colors on either 
side of its lateral ridge contrasted; color of body pea-green, ver- 
miculate with pallid and having a yellow stigmatal band. Length 
| inch. 

This is a wide-spread and abundant western and southern 
species, in our district rarely found east of Ohio (though it 
has been taken even in Maine), with habits like those of 
the preceding species, but more active in flight and more 
often flying high in the air. In our district it is triple- 
brooded, with seasons much as in the preceding species or 
perhaps a trifle later, and is said to hibernate both as a 
caterpillar and as a butterfly. The eggs closely resemble 
those of E. phttodice but have less numerous cross lines, 
and hatch in from four to nine days. The caterpillar 
feeds on clover, and the chrysalis hangs from nine to 
fifteen days. 

This butterfly is remarkable for the extraordinary variety 
of forms which it assumes, a brief account of which will be 
found in the Introduction, page 19. 



A third species of the genus, E. interior, closely resembling E. 
p7iilodice and sometimes mistaken for it, is found in high northern 
regions, is abundant on the northern shore of Lake Superior, and has 
occasionally been taken in northern New England. 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 137 

37. Genus Xanthidia. 
XANTHl'DIA NICIPPE— THE BLACK-BORDERED YELLOW. 

(Terias nicippe, Eurema nicippe.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings bright orange, the fore 
wings with a little dark mark at tip of cell and the outer border 
broadly margined with blackish brown, which extends above to 
the middle of the costal margin; in the male it is narrowest in the 
middle and bends inward on the inner margin ; in the female it is 
broader and fails to reach the inner margin; hind wings with a 
similar bordering broadest in the middle and, in the female only, 
nearly obliterated in the lower half. Under surface bright yellow, 
the fore wings with an orange tinge, the hind wings with some 
short transverse streaks of ferruginous, especially in the female, 
where the centre Of the disk is often dingy white. Expanse 
about 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head pea-green dotted with black, the papillae 
high and numerous. Body naked, pilose, the black papillae not 
transversely arranged, the color green, darkest above, with a 
broad yellow stigmatal band, edged slightly below with blue. 
Length 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body not bent in the middle, the wing cases very 
protuberant; frontal horn rather long conical; color green, the 
raised corrugations white, more or less sprinkled, especially on 
the wings, with fuscous. Length f inch. 

This southern butterfly occurs in the southern part of 
our district as far north, though not abundantly, as the 
southern borders of New York; it is common enough in 
southern but not in northern Ohio. It is found in open 
fields and has an active flight. It is apparently double- 
brooded and lives a long time as a butterfly, flying in the 
South from the time of its first appearance fresh from the 
chrysalis about the middle of May until the middle of 
November, with a notable accession in numbers about the 
middle of August, marking the apparition of the second 
brood. In keeping with this longevity, the butterfly hiber- 
nates and is seen again in the earliest days of spring. The 
eggs, which are fusiform, with about thirty vertical ribs 



138 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

and of a yellowish-green color, are laid singly (but often 
many upon the same branch) on the leaves of Cassia and 
usually upon the under side; they hatch in two or three 
days. The caterpillars eat first the extreme leaflets of the 
Cassia, beginning at the tip of the leaf; the chrysalis hangs 
from five to eight days. As the larval stages are passed 
rapidly, at least in midsummer, it is possible that the 
broods may be much more numerous than stated above; 
but if so, the striking accession to the numbers in flight in 
August remains to be explained. 

38. Genus Eurema. 
EUREMA LISA— THE LITTLE SULPHUR. 

(Xantliidia lisa, Terias lisa.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings canary-yellow, the apex 
and whole outer margin (the latter not quite to the outer angle 
in the female) broadly bordered with blackish brown on the fore 
wings ; hind wings rather narrowly margined with the same in 
the male, with a large spot at the upper angle only in the female. 
Under surface duller yellow, sparsely sprinkled with brownish 
dots, especially on the hind wings, which are more or less flecked 
with ferruginous and have also a ferruginous spot in both sexes 
opposite the blackish spot of the upper surface of the female. 
Expanse 1\ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head grass-green, the white papillae moderately 
high and not numerous. Body naked, pilose, the white papillae 
not in transverse lines ; color grass-green, deepening in color 
down the sides, with a white stiginatal line. Length more than 
§ inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body not bent in the middle, wing-cases but little 
protuberant ; frontal horn slender, conical ; translucent green, 
sparsely dotted with blackish. Length f inch. 

The distribution of this butterfly is almost precisely that 
of the preceding species, but it has been found in the East 
a little farther north than it, having apparently a permanent 
foothold on the southern shores of New England. Probably 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 139 

triple-brooded in the South, it seems within our district to 
be only double-brooded, and probably hibernates every- 
where as a butterfly. In the North the first brood of fresh 
butterflies appears about the middle of June and flies for 
five or six weeks; the second and much more numerous 
brood appears early in August, receives accessions through- 
out the month,, and flies through September. The eggs, 
which are light green, slender fusiform, and with very 
numerous vertical ribs, are laid singly on the upper side of 
the midrib between the leaflets of Cassia, species with 
small and finely-divided leaflets being preferred, and hatch 
in five or six days. The caterpillar escapes from the side 
of the egg ? and generally devours a considerable part of the 
rest before touching the leaves, when it crawls to the under 
surface and remains there, at first eating only holes in the 
leaf so as to leave the skeleton of the leaf untouched; it 
rests on the midrib of the leaf or on the stalk, and is then 
difficult to detect, so closely does its color accord with that 
of the plant; if much disturbed it will drop from the leaf 
by a thread. In the autumn the chrysalids hang for a 
month. 

An immense swarm of these delicate butterflies, thou- 
sands in number, was once blown like a cloud to Bermuda 
from the mainland, fully six hundred miles away. 

39. Genus Nathalis. 

NATHALIS IOLE— THE DAINTY SULPHUR. 

(Nathalis irene.) 

Butterfly. — Wings pale canary-yellow with dark brown mark- 
ings, which, on the upper surface of the fore wings, consist of a 
large apical spot bounded by an oblique line connecting the 
costal and outer margins near their middle, and a broad bar 
along the inner margin, not reaching the outer margin ; this 
bar is repeated on the under surface accompanied by a couple of 
blackish spots above its outer extremity ; under surface of the 



140 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

hind wings, except next outer margin, much besprinkled with 
dusky scales. Expanse 1 inch or more. 

Caterpillar. — Head green. Body green with a purple dorsal 
stripe and on each side a double stigmatal stripe of purple and 
yellow; a pair of reddish, conical, forward-projecting processes on 
back of first thoracic segment. Length £ inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body not bent in the middle, wing-cases but little 
protuberant; front rounded, with no distinct horn; yellow-green, 
thickly dotted with yellow-white. Length f inch. 

This pretty butterfly is very common indeed in the South- 
western States and occurs in our district in southern 
Illinois and Missouri. Its transformations have been fol- 
lowed by Mr. W. H. Edwards, through whom the above 
as yet unpublished details are given. The caterpillar 
feeds on Tagetes, but its seasons are not yet known except 
that the butterfly flies at the end of June and in July and 
again very late in the season ; doubtless also at other times. 



Two other genera of Red-Horns occur in the district: Phoebis, with 
one species, P. agarithe, an extreme southern type said to have been 
taken in Nebraska; and Pyrisitia, also with a single southern species, 
P. mexicana, which has been taken occasionally in the West, as far 
north as Iowa and Wisconsin, and once even in southern Ontario. 

TRIBE ORANGE-TIPS. 

40. Genus Anthocharis. 

ANTHOCHARIS GENUTIA— THE FALCATE ORANGE-TIP. 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dull white, the fore wings 
with a minute black spot at the tip of the cell, the edge of the 
falcate portion of the wing brown with white dots, and, in the 
male, the whole apex orange. Under surface of fore wings like 
the upper, but with no orange tip in either sex; hind wings 
flecked with light brown collected into large open blotches. 
Expanse If inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head pallid with greenish inky blotches, crowned 
with papillae. Body very slender, naked, pilose, numerously 
striped with orange, green, dark blue, white, and yellow, but 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 141 

principally bluish green, the broader lighter bands being dorsal 
and stigmatal; numerous black papillae of two different sizes, the 
larger arranged in series. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Fusiform, pointed at each end; frontal horn 
plumbeous, thorax pallid, wing-cases yellowish, abdomen pale 
yellow, the whole dotted with black. Length £ inch. 

A southern and eastern butterfly, found also in the 
eastern half of the southern portion of our district, even 
into New England; it occurs also in southern Illinois 
and Ohio. It is found in open woods and flies leisurely in 
a somewhat zigzag course and rarely alights. It is single- 
brooded and hibernates as a chrysalis. It appears with the 
first foliage early in May and flies only through this month 
or for a few days into June. The eggs are tall sugar-loaf - 
shaped with about fourteen vertical ribs and of an orange 
color and hatch in four or more days; they are laid singly 
on the stems and leaves of Cruciferous plants of a slender 
habit, Sisymbrium and Arabis, and the caterpillars feed on 
the flowers and buds, and later on the seed-pods. The 
change to chrysalis is somewhat curious, as related by 
W. H. Edwards. 



Another of the Orange tips, Synchloe olympia, has been found at 
distant intervals and in scanty numbers in the western and southern 
parts of our district — Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, 
and West Virginia. 

TRIBE WHITES. 
41. Genus Pontia. 

PONTIA PROTODICE— THE CHECKERED WHITE. 

(Pielis protodice, Pieris vernalis, Pieris occidentalis.) 

Butterfly. — Wings white, the fore wings marked above with 
grayish brown by a broad bar across the end of the cell, an inter- 
rupted, transverse, unequal belt across the outer third of the 
wing (subobsolete in the male) and triangular marginal spots at 



142 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

the nervure tips, especially the upper ones; the hind wings have 
somewhat similar markings in the female. Under surface with 
similar but heavier markings, both sexes as in the female, but 
inclining to yellowish brown. Expanse about 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head pale straw-yellow, dotted witfrdark ferru- 
ginous. Body slender, naked, pilose, striped with golden yellow 
and dark greenish purple, dotted with black papillae, which are 
broader than high. Length nearly 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. —With compressed conical elevations above on mid- 
dle of thorax and on sides of third abdominal segment, the frontal 
projection not longer than broad, the wing-cases not protruding 
beneath ; light bluish gray with yellowish dorsal and side stripes 
and dotted with black. Length f inch. 

This is a southern and western butterfly, flying in 
abundance farther north in the West than in the East, 
where it is rarely found north of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 
the southern seashore of New England. It has a rapid 
flight and is most common about vegetable gardens near 
cities, the caterpillar being destructive to cabbages; since 
the introduction of Pieris rapae to this country, however, 
it has been largely superseded in this respect by that pest. 
It is triple-brooded, each succeeding generation more 
abundant than the preceding, and hibernates as a chrysalis; 
the first brood appears in May, the second late in June or 
early in July, the third the last of August. The eggs, 
which are very tall and regular in form and vertically 
marked with about fourteen ribs, are laid singly and hatch 
in four days. The caterpillars feed upon various Crucifer- 
ous plants, and in the case of the cabbage devour only the 
outer leaves of the head and are thus much less destructive 
in habit than Pieris rapae. 

The spring butterflies are more heavily marked than 
those of the subsequent broods. 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 143 

42. Genus Pieris. 

PIERIS OLERACEA— THE GRAY-VEINED WHITE. 

(Pohtia oleracea, Pontia casta, Pieris napi, Pieris frigida, Pieris 
cruciferariirn. ) 

Butterfly. — Wings white without markings, or with the veins 
more or less broadly mapped beneath with gray, especially on the 
hind wings and on the tips of the fore wings, and the same regions 
washed with pale yellow. Expanse about 2 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head green. Body slender, naked, pilose, green, 
minutely dotted with black, except on a dorsal stripe which is not 
otherwise distinguished. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — With compressed conical elevations above on the 
middle of the thorax and on sides of second and third abdominal 
segments, those of the third distinctly flaring, the frontal projec- 
tion much longer than broad, the wing-cases not protruding be- 
neath ; color green, the elevated portions infuscated. Length 
fully f inch. 

This northern species occurs throughout all but the 
southern parts of our region, though in scanty numbers 
except in mountainous districts; it appears, however, to be 
absent from the prairies west of the Mississippi, and 
wherever it has come in contact with P. rcqiae, it has be- 
come relatively rare; it seems to be more commonly found 
in open places in the vicinity of woods than about farms 
(where P. rapae is most common) and is in every respect 
more feral than the introduced pest. It is triple-brooded, 
wintering in the chrysalis; the first brood appears at the 
end of April or early in May, according to the season, and 
flies somewhat into June; the second at the very end of 
June or early in July and flies nearly to the end of the 
latter month ; the third early in August or occasionally at 
the end of July and disappears early in September. The 
eggs, which are Florence-flask-shaped, tapering from the 
middle upward and with about thirteen vertical ribs, are 
pale greenish yellow, and are laid singly on the under sur- 
face of leaves, often several on a leaf, and hatch in from five 



144 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

to eight days. The caterpillar feeds on various Crucifer- 
ous plants, of which turnip appears to be the favorite, and 
eats to repletion, the skin of the body being tense and 
glistening after a meal; it feeds only on the under surface, 
biting holes through the leaves and never attacking them 
at the edges. The chrysalis, when not hibernating, hangs 
from seven to eleven days. 

The summer broods are almost pure white beneath, while 
the spring brood is heavily, often (especially in northern- 
most localities) very heavily, marked. 

PIERIS RAPAE— THE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 

Butterfly.— Wings dull white, the bind wings pale lemon-yel- 
low beneath, flecked uniformly with griseous; fore wings with the 
extreme apex blackish brown above, more broadly washed with 
yellow beneath ; besides, on both surfaces is a round black spot 
on the middle of the outer half of the fore wing and beneath it, 
on the under surface, a small spot on the inner margin, opposite 
which, on the costal margin of the upper surface of the hind 
wings, is a short black bar. Expanse about 2 inches. 

Caterpillar.— Head green. Body slender, naked, pilose, green, 
with a yellowish dorsal band and a similar but slender and inter- 
rupted stigmatal band. Length nearly 4 inch. 

Chrysalis. — With compressed conical elevations above on the 
middle of the thorax and the sides of the second and third ab- 
dominal segments, the latter not flaring, the frontal projection 
much larger than broad, the wing-cases not protruding beneath ; 
color green, the elevated portions infuscated at tip. Length 
nearly % inch. 

This butterfly was introduced into this country from 
Europe at Quebec about 1860, and again at New York in 
1868, and has thence spread over our entire region and far 
beyond, largely displacing our native butterflies, Poniia 
protodice and Pieris oleracea, apparently from the earlier 
appearance of some of the broods and its extreme fecun- 
dity; there is no cultivated spot where it cannot be found, 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 145 

and it especially abounds about vegetable gardens both in 
country and city. It is triple-brooded and hibernates as a 
chrysalis; the earlier broods appear in any locality where 
P. oleracea also occurs, about a week or a little less before 
that species, but the last brood is apparently contempora- 
neous. The eggs, which are Florence-flask-shaped, taper 
only on the upper third, have about twelve vertical ribs, 
are pale yellow and are laid erect in large numbers, but 
not in close proximity (except accidentally), on the under 
surface of leaves; they hatch in about a week. The cater- 
pillar feeds on a great variety of Cruciferous plants, espe- 
cially on cabbage (to which it is very destructive, often 
totally ruining a crop), but also on some other plants and 
especially mignonette; in cabbages it bores into the heart 
and fills the passages with its excrement. When not hi- 
bernating, the chrysalis state lasts ten or twelve days. The 
male butterfly has a very faint but agreeable odor. 

Seasonal dimorphism is shown in the heavier markings 
of the first brood of the season; and a variety sometimes 
occurs (and was especially prevalent when it was first in- 
troduced) of a pale canary-yellow throughout. 

Subfamily Swallow-tails. 

43. Genus Laertias. 

LAERTIAS PHILENOR— THE BLUE SWALLOW-TAIL. 

(Papilio philenor.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings blackish brown with yel- 
lowish lunules in the fringe and a sub-marginal series of pearl-gray 
spots. Under surface of fore wings nearly the same with larger 
markings; of hind wings slate-brown at base, beyond varying 
from metallic green to blue with seven large premarginal rounded 
orange spots; broadly bordered with black and tipped above 
with white. Expanse about 4J inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black. Body naked, nearly cylindrical, 
nearly black, with two series of small orange spots on each side, 
and at both ends of the body, on either side, a series of long black 



146 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES, 

fleshy filaments, those of the first thoracic segment longest. 
Length fully 2 inches. 

Chrysalis. — Body greatly expanded laterally at the third ab- 
dominal segment, where the wings form a sharp ridge ; a similar 
compressed ridge on each side of the back of the middle abdomi- 
nal segments; of a dead- leaf color, more or less infuscated on the 
elevations. Length more than 1 inch. 

A southern butterfly, found over the southern half of 
our district almost or quite to the southern extremities of 
the Great Lakes, fond of the blossoms of trees and the 
damp spots in roads, flying low and rather slowly. It is 
double- brooded and appears to hibernate as a butterfly, the 
fresh butterflies appearing in July and September. The 
eggs, which are subspherical and covered with a gummy red 
substance, are laid in small clusters, generally of two or 
three rows of three or four each, but sometimes as many as 
thirty or more, on the upper side of leaves or more gen- 
erally on the smaller stems or tendrils of the food-plant, 
and hatch in from seven to nine days. The caterpillars 
feed mostly on Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia), but some- 
times on other members of the f amily, like Asarum, or even 
on Polygonum and Ipomoea, neighboring plants; they do 
not devour their egg-shells and at first feed side by side in 
close company, lying at right angles to the edge of the leaf, 
heads out; afterwards they are semigregarious, living near 
together but apart and without concealment. The odor 
from the scent-organs behind the head is much slighter and 
less disagreeable than with our other swallow-tails. The 
chrysalis state lasts three or four weeks. 

44. Genus Iphiclides. 
IPHICLIDES AJAX— THE ZEBRA SWALLOW-TAIL. 

(Papilio ajax, Papilio inarcellus, Papilio telamonides.) 

Butterfly. — Wings black, transversely marked with broad and 
narrow whitish stripes, partly common to both wings, narrowing 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 147 

from above downward, and with a large blood-red spot on inner 
margin of hind wings before the anal angle, generally accom- 
panied within by another. Besides these markings the under 
surfaces of the hind wings show adjacent median red and white 
stripes across the wing, and both surfaces blue submarginal 
lunules in the interspaces below the long tails. Abdomen with 
yellow sides. Expanse 3-3f inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head green. Body nakec}, largest at the third 
thoracic segment,, pea-green, with transverse markings, consist- 
ing of black dots and lines and slender lemon-yellow stripes, 
besides a conspicuous broad velvety black stripe on the third 
thoracic segment, edged with lemon-yellow. Length more than 
2 inches. 

Chrysalis. — Compact, with relatively low prominences except 
the triquetral elevation on dorsum of thorax ; a slender median 
carina on thorax and a similar pair on upper side of abdomen ; 
dead-leaf brown, or bright green with slight infuscated markings. 
Length nearly 1 inch. 

This butterfly, a southern form, is confined to the eastern 
half of the continent and is found only in the southern 
part of our district with about the same limits as the pre- 
ceding species; it flies low and rapidly among thickets. 
The insect winters as a chrysalis and has several broods a 
season; the first brood is dimorphic, one form, marcellus, 
appearing with the peach-blossoms ; the other, telamoni- 
des, some weeks thereafter; the second and later broods, 
ajax proper, also differ from either of the preceding; mar- 
cellus disappears about the first of June, telamonides during 
the same month, while the earliest ajax appear by the time 
that marcellus has gone, flying with telamonides; there- 
after the broods seem to overlap so that they are not easy 
to distinguish. The eggs, which are oblate spheroidal in 
shape and pea-green in color, afterward turning black, are 
laid singly, usually on the upper surface of a leaf and in 
from four to eight days according to the time of year. The 
young caterpillar usually devours most of its egg-shell be- 
fore feeding on the papaw (Asimina) on which it is to live, 



148 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

which it does without concealment. The chrysalis hangs 
from ten to fourteen days, when it hatches the same season, 
but an increasing number of each brood do not disclose 
their inmates at all until the next season ; whether this has 
any definite relation to the dimorphism of the first brood 
is not yet known. The odor from the scent-organs of the 
caterpillar is particularly nauseating. 

45. Genus Jasoniades. 
JASONIADES GLAUCUS— THE TIGER SWALLOW-TAIL. 

(Papilio glaucus, Papilio turnus, Jasoniades turnus.) 

Butterfly. — Wings bright straw-yellow (paler beneath) with 
a very broad black outer margin in which are yellow lunules and 
on the fore wings four black bars descending from the costal 
margin, the innermost of which, tapering throughout, nearly 
crosses also the hind wings; besides there is an orange lunule next 
the anal angle of the hind wings and much dusting with metallic 
blue, particularly on the under surface on the inner portion of 
the black border of the same. Abdomen with yellow sides. Ex- 
panse 3f-4^ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head ferruginous. Body naked, largest at the 
division between thoracic and abdominal segments, deep green, 
paler below, with a black transverse stripe above at front edge 
of second abdominal segment, bordered in front by yellow; upper 
sides of third thoracic segment with a small black-edged greenish 
yellow spot having a black-edged turquoise pupil. Length 2 
inches. 

Chrysalis. — Koughened and straight, the wing-cases not 
prominent beneath, all the higher projections anterior and 
directed more or less forward; griseous with a yellow olivaceous 
tinge, often with greenish patches in front and specked and 
lined with blackish. Length 1J inches. 

Found everywhere in our district and far beyond it, 
often swarming in abundance particularly in hilly regions 
and especially in narrow wooded valleys, often also 
assembling in vast numbers about damp spots or ordure or 
decaying animal substances. It winters as a chrysalis and 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 149 

is double-brooded, the first butterflies of the season appear- 
ing about the last of May and flying into July, often until 
.the middle of the month, when the second brood, which is 
less abundant than the first, makes its appearance. The 
eggs, which are subspherical and leaf -green, are laid singly 
on the upper surface of leaves and usually hatch in about 
eight days. The caterpillar feeds on a greater variety of 
plants than any yet recorded; in all about a dozen families 
and thirty or more species are already known, among which 
birch, poplar, ash, and Liriodendron appear to be the favor- 
ites; when young it feeds at the edge of the leaf and 
retires after feeding to the middle of the upper side of the 
drooping leaf, where it spins a silken carpet whereon to 
rest head upward; as soon as it moults it chooses a fresh 
leaf for its residence and spins a new carpet, going to some 
neighboring leaf to feed; when it grows larger (having 
moulted three times) it spins a web across a new leaf so 
tightly as to draw the opposite sides somewhat together 
and to make of the leaf a sort of trough, the web touching 
the leaf only at the sides and forming an elastic bed where 
the caterpillar rests, concealed on a side view. The chrysa- 
lis state lasts two or three weeks in the summer. 

This butterfly is remarkable for being dimorphic, but 
with curious restrictions, the dimorphism being limited 
sexually and geographically; for in the most southern 
parts of our district and southward there are two forms of 
female, one resembling the male, as is invariably the case 
in the north, the other one in which the black has sup- 
planted the yellow to such an extent that the stripes can 
only be vaguely seen. 



150 TEE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

46. Genus Euphoeades. 

ETJPHCEADES TROILUS— THE GREEN-CLOUDED SWALLOW- 
TAIL. 

(Papilio troilus.) 

Butterfly. — Wings blackish brown, the upper surface with a 
submarginal series of spots, which are round and pale straw-color 
on the fore wings, larger, semilunate, and pale blue-green on the 
hind wings, which have, besides, an orange spot next the middle 
of the costal margin, an orange and green spot next the anal 
angle, and the middle of the wing dusted with green and metallic 
blue in varying quantity. On the under surface of the hind 
wings this last is replaced by an arcuate series of bread orange 
lunules, edged within with yellow and without with black, and 
followed outwardly by metallic blue dusting ; but the series is 
interrupted in the middle by one of the lunules and its appurte- 
nances becoming a comet-like mass of green scales. Expanse 
about 4 inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head pale green. Body naked, largest at the 
third thoracic segment, dark green, paler beneath, the sides of 
the third thoracic segment with a large, circular, finely black- 
edged, buff spot, containing above a small turquoise spot and 
below a larger velvety black spot ; first abdominal segment 
above with a pair of approximated, finely black-edged, large 
ovoid buff spots having a small turquoise spot within ; and the 
hinder abdominal segments with transverse series of six small, 
ovoid, black-edged, turquoise spots. Length 1J inches. 

Chrysalis. — Relatively smooth with no striking prominences 
except the divergent frontal projections and moderate thoracic 
elevation; a lateral ridge the whole length of the body, the wing- 
cases protuberant beneath ; pale yellowish green above, all 
prominences and ridges reddish brown, pale green beneath ; or 
griseous with mingled yellowish and brown dottings above. 
Length 1| inches. 

This though a southern butterfly extends north to about 
the 43d degree of latitude, though it appears to be limited 
westward by about the 95th degree of longitude. Its flight 
is rather Swift and unwearied, in long zigzags, usually only 
just above the low bushes which it frequents. It winters 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 151 

as a chrysalis and is double-brooded; the first butterflies 
appear in the last part of May and continue far into July; 
the second brood is on the wing by the middle of August 
or earlier, but does not become abundant until toward the 
end of August. The eggs, which are subspherical and 
pale green, are laid singly on the under surface of leaves 
and hatch in probably a week's time. The caterpillar 
feeds upon various Lauraceae and some other plants, but 
spice-bush and sassafras appear to be the favorites; after 
eating its egg-shell it bites a channel through one side of 
the leaf not far from the tip down to the midrib, and folds 
the end-flap over to form a concealment; it does not fasten 
the edge itself in any way, but keeps the flap in place by 
numerous transverse strands of silk upon the fold of the 
leaf, and does it so neatly that the edge of the flap just 
touches the opposite side of the leaf; later in life it brings 
the two edges of an entire leaf together in the same way 
and lives therein, feeding upon the neighboring leaves. 
The chrysalis state lasts about a fortnight. 



A second species of Euphoeades, E. palamedes, equally common at 
the South, does not extend so far north as E. troilus, but has been 
taken in Virginia and Missouri and probably may occur at any point 
on the extreme southern border cf our district. 



47. Genus Heraclides. 

HERACLIDES CRESPHONTES— THE ORANGE DOG, OR GIANT 
SWALLOW-TAIL. 

(Papilio cresphontes, Papilio thoas.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings black-brown with two very 
arcuate series of very heavy yellow discontinuous markings 
crossing each other, one passing from the tips of tie fore wings 
to the base of the inner margin of the hind pair, the other, more 
curved, from beyond the middle of the costal margin of the fore 
wings to the anal angle of the hind pair, just above which is an 



152 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

orange lunule. Under surface mostly clay-yellow, the markings 
of the upper surface repeated considerably modified, with great 
extension of yellow, the hind wings with a median lunulate black 
belt, marked with blue and centrally with orange. Abdomen 
with yellow sides. Expanse 4-5f inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head brown. Body naked, much swollen 
anteriorly, ferruginous brown with a lateral stripe in front, the 
hinder end of which (including two or three segments and a broad 
saddle in the middle) is cream yellow, flecked with brownish, as 
other parts of the back are slenderly streaked with dirty yellow. 
Length more than 2 inches. 

Chrysalis. — Body roughened and a little bent, the wing-cases 
protuberant beneath, all the larger projections anterior and 
directed forward ; griseous or dead-leaf brown, often tinged with 
green and more or less marked with dark brown, especially in 
front, on the wings except apically, and on the sides of the basal 
segments of the abdomen. Length more than 1-J- inches. 

This largest of our butterflies is a tropical species, but 
it extends far northward and in recent years has invaded 
our district, where it is now occasionally found in scattered 
localities in all the southern portions, having even occurred 
within thirty miles of Montreal. It rests with its wings 
expanded and a little depressed and has a sailing flight. 
It hibernates as a chrysalis and in our district is double- 
brooded, the first brood appearing early in June and the 
second at the end of July and much later, flying through 
September. The eggs, w T hich are subspherical and overlaid 
by a brownish-yellow secretion, are deposited singly on the 
tips of the budding leaves in spring, on the older leaves and 
the twigs later in the year, and hatch in ten or twelve 
days, or sooner according to some. The caterpillar will 
probably feed upon any plants of the Eue family and is 
particularly addicted to the orange, which it sometimes 
defoliates; it has also been found on plants of allied 
families; it eats leaves and also the tenderer shoots, and 
when young remains on the under side of the leaves and 
devours only the tenderer parts between the ribs of older 



FAMILY TYPICAL BUTTERFLIES. 153 

leaves; later it devours the whole leaf, but even when old 
it excepts the midrib and rests on the twigs and branches. 
The summer chrysalids ordinarily hang from six to six- 
teen days. 

48. Genus Papilio. 
PAPILIO POLYXENES— THE BLACK SWALLOW-TAIL. 

(Papilio asterias.) 

Butterfly. — Wings black with markings mainly yellow ; fore 
wings with two straight rows of spots parallel to the outer 
margin, the outer rounded, the inner triangular ; upper surface 
of hind wings with a median row of spots, in the male forming a 
maculate band, and a submarginal series of lunules, between 
which, especially in the female, are many congregated blue 
scales ; at the anal angle a black-pupilled orange demi-ocellus ; 
on the under surface of the hind wings the yellow markings 
become mostly orange and are heavier. Abdomen with two rows 
of yellow 7 dots on each side. Expanse 3J-4J- inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head green, broadly striped vertically with 
black. Body naked, nearly cylindrical, pea-green, marked with 
black in transverse bands on each segment, broadening into 
rounded spots at regular intervals by enclosing small, round, 
yellow spots at their anterior margins. Length nearly 2 inches. 

Chrysalis. — Roughened, with the front half bent backward by 
the protrusion beneath of the wing-cases, all the higher pro- 
jections anterior and directed more or less forward ; dirty yellow- 
ish brown, more or less marked with griseous and dotted with 
black or blackish points. Length 1J inches. 

Found everywhere in our district in cultivated fields and 
hilly pastures, flying rather swiftly near the ground and 
often half doubling on its course. Winter is passed in the 
chrysalis state and there are two broods annually, the first 
making its appearance in the latter half of May, the second 
about the middle of July, and each brood flying about two 
months. The eggs, which are subspherical and honey- 
yellow, afterward changing in parts to reddish brown, are 
laid singly on the finely-cut leaves of the food-plant and 



154 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

hatch in from five to nine days. The caterpillars feed on 
any Umbelliferous plants, and seem to be found on carrot 
and parsley as often as on anything else; they eat vora- 
ciously and live fully exposed, and do not, like most of 
our Swallow-tail caterpillars, devour their cast skins after 
moulting. The chrysalis state varies in the summer from 
nine to eighteen days. 

A second species of Papilio, P. brevicaudu, remarkable for its short 
tails, has been found in Newfoundland and along the shores of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 155 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 

TRIBE LARGER SKIPPERS. 

49. Genus Epargyreus. 

EPARGYREUS TITYRUS— THE SILVER-SPOTTED HESPERID. 

(Eudamus tityrus, Goniloba tityrus, Thymele tityrus.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark chocolate-brown, the 
fore wings with a belt of four large, contiguous, gleaming, amber- 
yellow spots, with another smaller one outside of them, and three 
little fenestrate white spots, one below 7 the other next the costal 
border a little before the tip. Under surface blackish brown, 
with a faint gray bloom next the outer margins, the markings of 
the fore wings repeated, and across the middle of the hind wings, 
but not reaching either border, a very large unequal silvery 
white patch. Expanse 2-2 J inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head ferruginous with a large orange spot at 
base of mandibles. Body naked, briefly pilose, greenish yellow, 
marked with transverse lines, blotches, and dots of grassy green, 
the lines encircling the body above, the blotches abundant at the 
sides, and the dots at the anterior edge of each segment ; first 
thoracic segment orange-red with brown shield. Length nearly 
1^ inches. 

Chrysalis. — Very stout and plump, the abdomen (exclusive of 
tail-piece) no longer than the rest of the body ; prothoracic 
spiracle with posterior lip flat ; tongue-case not extending beyond 
the wings ; dark brown, marked with blackish and testaceous. 
Length nearly 1 inch. 

This butterfly is found, throughout all of our district 
except the northernmost portions and the eastern provinces ; 
it is found about gardens and has a dashing inrpetuous 
flight, starting and stopping abruptly, being perhaps our 
most robust and vigorous butterfly. It winters in the 
chrysalis and is single-brooded, although there are two 



156 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

broods in the Southern States, and this may be the case in 
the southern parts of our district. The butterflies make 
their appearance with us early in June, sometimes late in 
May, and continue to emerge from the chrysalis throughout 
June and fly throughout July and often into August. 
The eggs, which are domed, heavily ribbed and cross-lined, 
and of a grass-green color, are laid singly, from the middle 
of June on, upon the upper surface of leaves, and hatch in 
about four days. The caterpillars feed upon a number of 
different plants of the Pulse family (proper), and very 
likely will eat any of them, but they seem to prefer locusts 
and especially the rose-acacia; during its first two stages 
the caterpillar makes a nest by nearly cutting a rounded 
piece out of a leaf, folding it over and binding the edges 
to the leaf at a few points with silken cords so that it is 
open at the sides; when larger it connects two leaves or 
sometimes more in a similar manner, and often changes to 
chrysalis therein, first making the nest more secure by a 
silken interior lining; at other times it makes a cocoon of 
dead leaves or bits of rotten wood entangled with its silk. 



50. Genus Thorybes. 

THORYBES PYLADES— THE NORTHERN CLOUDY-WING. 

(Eudamus py lades.) 

Butterfly. —Upper surface of wings dark glistening brown, the 
fore wings with a few very small, slender, mostly transverse, 
fenestrate spots, three just beyond the middle in a triangle, and 
two sets on the costal margin, one at the middle, the other half 
way from there to the tip. Under surface as above, but with 
pale clouds next the margin, and the hind wings crossed by a 
pair of dark-edged, light-brown, narrow, tremulous bands. Ex- 
panse lj-lf inches. 

Caterpillar.— Head black. Body naked, briefly pilose, rather 
dark green, with a slender darker dorsal stripe, a dull salmon 
lateral stripe and the infrastigmatal fold pale salmon ; first tho- 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 157 

racic segment black, edged in front with red or orange and red on 
the sides below. Length more than 1 inch. 

Chrysalis.— Rather slender-bodied, the abdomen (exclusive of 
tail-piece) shorter than the rest of the body, the prothoracic spir- 
acle with elevated posterior lip, the tongue-case not extending 
beyond the wings; fusco-luteous speckled profusely with blackish 
fuscous, becoming blackish transverse broken bands on the 
abdomen. Length f inch. 

This butterfly occurs throughout our district unless we 
except the eastern provinces, from which it has not yet 
been recorded ; it is found in open fields and meadows and 
flies with extreme rapidity and uncertain direction, gener- 
ally two or three feet only above the ground. It winters 
as a chrysalis and is double-brooded, the first brood appear- 
ing the last week in May, becoming abundant in less than 
a week, and not wholly disappearing until some time, often 
late, in July; the second brood is much less abundant than 
the first, appears in August, usually not until the middle 
of the month and flies till the middle of September or later. 
The eggs, which are subglobular but with abroad base and 
with moderately low vertical ribs to the number of fifteen, 
are very pale green, almost white, and are laid on the under 
side of leaves, singly, and hatch in from five to eleven, 
generally about six, days. The caterpillar feeds on almost 
any Leguminous plant, but appears to prefer clover and 
bush clover (Lespedeza); on emerging the caterpillar 
usually devours about half its egg-shell and then travels to 
another leaf to prepare its nest, which it makes by cutting 
two parallel channels inwards from the edge of the leaf and 
folding over and securing by silken strands the flap thus 
formed; later in life it makes a larger nest from one or 
more leaves after the habit of Epargyreus; it is very clean- 
ly, always ejecting its excrement outside its nest with a 
snap which sends it to a distance. The chrysalis state in 
summer lasts about twenty days. 



158 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

A southern species of Thorybes, T. bathyllas, very close to this but 
with larger spots, has been occasionally found far north, even as far 
as Massachusetts and Wisconsin ; and another species, T. electra, is 
known only from Hamilton, Ontario. 



51. GrENUS THANAOS. 

THANAOS LXJCILIUS-LUCILIUS'S DUSKY- WING. 

(Xisoniades lucilius.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark grayish brown, the 
fore wings with the basal half blackish, a double row of premar- 
ginal gray spots and, next the costal margin beyond the blackish 
base, a large and distinct cinereous patch, followed outwardly by 
three minute vitreous spots one above the other. Under surface 
fuliginous brown with pallid spots and dots in submarginal series. 
Expanse about 1-J- inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head with the summits considerably elevated, 
black with three reddish spots and streaks on the sides. Body 
naked, briefly pilose, with a slender pale yellowish lateral line. 
Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Slender, the abdomen (exclusive of tail- piece) 
longer than the rest of the body, the posterior lip of thoracic 
spiracle scarcely raised, not flaring, the tongue-case scarcely ex- 
tending beyond the wings ; pale green. Length somewhat more 
than | inch. 

This butterfly probably occurs throughout our district, 
but it has never been reported from Canada excepting in 
southern Ontario, nor west of this locality except in distant 
Dakota; nor in New England, where it is best known, has 
it been found north of Plymouth, N. H., nor in Maine 
or beyond that ; it occurs in wooded rocky spots and win- 
ters as a full-fed caterpillar. It is partly single-, partly 
double-, and partly triple-brooded, there being annually 
three apparitions of the butterfly in decreasing numbers : 
early in May, the middle of July, and the middle of August, 
some of the caterpillars of each of the first two broods as 
well as all of the last ceasing to feed after they are full 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 159 

grown and passing the winter in the larval nest, closing it 
tightly, and only changing to chrysalis very early in the 
following spring; but the last brood of the season is made 
up not only by direct descent from the second, but also by 
a certain proportion of the lethargic caterpillars of the first 
brood, which, when the regular time for change in the sec- 
ond brood of caterpillars occurs, change then to chrysalis, 
instead of doing so as soon as full fed or of waiting still 
longer until the succeeding spring. The eggs, which are 
subspherical with broad base and twelve to fifteen com- 
pressed and not very high vertical ribs, are at first whitish 
green, afterwards salmon-red, and are laid singly on the 
under surface of the leaves of the food-plant and hatch in 
about ten days in June. The caterpillar feeds on wild 
columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, and has also been found 
in the South on Clienopodium album; although it does not 
eat much of its egg-shell, it generally takes the caterpillar 
about twenty-four hours to eat its way out, and this delib- 
erate manner it retains through life; it makes its first nest 
much after the manner of Thorybes, and after it has bitten 
the channels requires three or four hours of continuous 
work to bring the flap to the proper angle required for the 
nest ; when it leaves a nest to form a larger one it always 
first bites off the strands which have kept the old flap in 
place; it goes to another leaf to feed, and when mature 
makes a nest of a whole leaf or of several leaves. The 
chrysalis state in summer lasts from eleven to fifteen days. 

THANAOS PERSIUS— PERSIUSS DUSKY- WING. 

(Nisoniades persius.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of fore wings dark grayish brown, 
the basal half and a band across the middle of the outer half 
blackish; between the two, next the costal margin, an indistinct 
cinereous patch, followed outwardly by a descending row of four 
or five minute vitreous spots ; hind wings chocolate - brown. 



160 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

Under surface dark fuliginous, with the vitreous spots of the 
fore wings repeated and a cinereous apex. Expanse about If 
inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head with summits rounded and slightly ele- 
vated, ferruginous brown with pale vertical streaks, or piceous 
marked with ferruginous. Body naked, briefly pilose, pale green 
with pale yellowish lateral lines and sprinkled profusely with 
white dots. Length more than 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Dull olivaceous green, much infuscated, abdomen 
pinkish brown, mottled faintly with pale dots, the rest as in the 
preceding species. Length somewhat more than £ inch. 

Probably found over the whole of our region, but not 
yet noticed in the northernmost portions; it occurs mostly 
in shady roadsides by woods and is strong, rapid, and 
restless in flight, often flying in little circles as if about to 
alight and then darting off again. It hibernates as a full- 
grown caterpillar and changes to chrysalis before vegetation 
has started. It first appears as a butterfly early in May 
and continues to emerge from the chrysalis throughout the 
month, after spending sixteen days or more in chrysalis; 
by the middle of June it has disappeared. It is possible 
that there is a second brood, as fresh specimens have been 
taken in the latter half of July; but if so, it is but a small 
one and the insect partly single-, partly double-brooded, 
most of the caterpillars of the first brood remaining un- 
changed until the succeeding year. The eggs, which are 
shaped as in the preceding species with from eleven to 
fourteen vertical ribs, more elevated above than in T. 
lucilius, are yellowish green in color, changing afterwards 
to blood-red; they are laid singly on the upper surface of 
tender terminal leaves and hatch in about a week. The 
caterpillar feeds upon wallows and poplars, and on emerging 
from the egg eats only the crown ; it constructs a flap-nest 
like the last species, the flap being at first folded dow r nward, 
later ones upward; when very young it eats only the 
parenchyma of the surface of the leaf near its nest; later 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 161 

little holes through the leaf, giving it a riddled appearance; 
when half grown it always rests with the two ends of its 
body bent at right angles. 

THANAOS JUVENILIS— JUVENAL'S DUSKY- WING. 

(Xisoiiiades juvenalis, Nisoniades ennius.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of fore wings dark grayish brown, 
paler in the female^ much besprinkled with gray scales, with a 
vitreous spot at tip of cell and a transverse series of similar spots 
in the middle of the outer half, interrupted beyond the cell, 
and those beneath duller, all set in a broken obscure blackish 
band, distinct only at their margins ; hind wings cloudy blackish 
brown, the outer half obscurely marked with slightly paler spots. 
Under surface dark purplish brown with a grayish tinge, the 
spots of the upper surface repeated more distinctly, and besides, 
on the hind wings, a pair of small brown-edged yellowish spots 
near upper outer angle. Expanse about If inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head with summits rounded and somewhat ele- 
vated, varying from greenish fuscous to fawn color, heavily 
marked on the sides with pale orange. Body naked, briefly 
pilose, light or dark green, with slender pale - lemon lateral 
stripes, and dotted profusely with pale yellow. Length 1 inch 
or a little less. 

Chrysalis. — Pale or livid above, the abdomen faintly tinged 
with salmon above and below, the metathorax slightly infuscated; 
all the appendages in great part black or blackish fuscous, the 
disk of the wings dark olivaceo-fuscous, the rest as in the other 
species. Length more than \ inch. 

Found throughout our district, except in some of the 
northernmost portions, in open oak thickets flying vigor- 
ously. The winter is passed as a full-fed caterpillar and 
the species is probably both single- and double-brooded, 
the second brood of butterflies being very much less nu- 
merous than the first. The butterflies first appear on the 
wing at the very beginning of May and fly until the middle 
of Jane, being most abundant about the middle of May; 
the second brood appears after the middle of July and flies 



162 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

through August. The eggs are shaped as in the other 
species, with about sixteen vertical ribs, highest above, and 
are pea-green, changing after two days to a salmon-red; 
they are laid singly on the stems and perhaps also on the 
leaves of the food-plant and hatch in eight or nine days. 
The caterpillar feeds principally upon oaks, but also upon 
some Leguminous plants, and makes a nest like the pre- 
ceding species, but always, even when young, travels to a 
distance for its food. When winter approaches, the hiber- 
nating caterpillar takes on a vinous tint. In the spring 
the chrysalis state lasts a full month. 

THANAOS BRIZO— THE SLEEPY DUSKY- WING 

(Nisoniades brizo.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings very dark grayish brown, 
the fore wings flecked with white scales especially toward the 
apex, with no vitreous spots, but crossed by two distant dark 
bands with jagged black edges, the outer band the more distinct; 
hind wings with a few small obscure pallid spots on outer half. 
Under surface dark fuliginous brown, the fore wings gray 
apically and both with a marginal and premarginal series of small 
whitish spots. Expanse somewhat more than 1£ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dark brown, paler above, with an orange 
spot at base of mandibles. Body naked, briefly pilose, pale green 
with an indistinct paler lateral stripe and dotted with darker 
green. Length more than 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Green, the appendages infuscated, the rest as in 
the other species. Length £ inch. 

Occurs in every part of our district in moist shady spots 
and forest openings, flying swiftly about three feet from 
the ground with sudden lateral movements. It hibernates 
as a full-grown caterpillar and is single-brooded, appearing 
on the wing very early in May, becoming abundant by the 
tenth of the month and flying until the middle of July. 
The eggs, shaped as in the other species, have fifteen ribs 
of uniform height. The caterpillar feeds upon scrub oak 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 163 

and perhaps Galactia, and its habits are in general like 
those of the other species of the genus. In the spring the 
chrysalis state lasts but nine days in the Southern States, 
probably longer in the Northern. 

THANAOS ICELUS— THE DREAMY DUSKY- WING. 

(Nisoniades icelus.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings very dark grayish brown, 
the fore wings heavily flecked with cinereous, especially on the 
apical half and in a large roundish patch next the costal margin 
between the two dark bands which traverse the wing and which 
it shares with JV. brizo, but the inner of which is usually less dis- 
tinct than in that species ; between the outer band and the mar- 
gin is a uniform series of small round brown spots ; otherwise as 
in J¥. brizo. Expanse 1-J- inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head light reddish brown, with slightly raised 
summits. Body naked, pilose, pale green dotted with white, 
giving a gray-green appearance, and with a pallid lateral stripe. 
Length nearly f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Anterior portion of body reddish or yellowish 
brown, the abdomen pale flesh-color, the rest as in the other spe- 
cies. Length fully £ inch. 

Found everywhere in our district in clamp wooded re- 
gions, especially among the hills, rarely flying at all in 
companies. It is single-brooded and hibernates as a full-fed 
caterpillar, changing to chrysalis in the spring, remaining 
in that state at least two or three weeks and appearing on the 
wing about the middle of May; it becomes quickly abun- 
dant and flies until and into July. The eggs are very pale 
green with from ten to fourteen vertical ribs, highest above, 
and are laid singly upon the upper surface of leaves, those 
tolerably young but fully expanded being preferred; they 
hatch in about ten days. The caterpillars feed upon aspen, 
willow, and witch-hazel, and make nests like the other spe- 
cies, but with the attaching strands of silk unusually long, 
shortening them when they wish to change their skin 



164 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

within before desertion for another nest; they line this nest 
within with silk for winter quarters. All the species of 
Thanaos rest with fully expanded wings. 



Other species of Thanaos that occur within our district are T. ho- 
ratius, a southern form which has been found along the Atlantic 
coast as far north as Massachusetts, but is very rare; T. terentius, a 
much rarer species, of which the same may be said; T. mart 'talis, a 
wide-spread species occurring in at least the southern half of our dis- 
trict from Massachusetts to Kansas, but which seems to be nowhere 
common except in the Southern States ; and T. ausonius, which is so 
far certainly known only from Albany, N. Y. 

52. Genus Pholisora. 

PHOLISORA CATULLUS— THE SOOTY- WING. 

(Xisoniades catullus.) 

Butterfly. — Wings nearly black, the fore wings with an oblique 
descending series of three small white spots just before the tip, 
followed by an arcuate series of five white dots beginning at right 
angles with the former (frequently obsolete beneath), and a sim- 
ilar white dot in the cell. Expanse li inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, summits rounded. Body naked, 
briefly pilose, dull pale green ; thoracic shield velvety black, 
slender, pallid at the edges ; second pair of legs resembling the 
third pair more than the first. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body slender, the abdomen (exclusive of tail-piece) 
longer than the rest of the body, posterior lip of thoracic spiracle 
elevated, flaring ; equal apical portion of tail-piece as seen from 
above scarcely longer than broad ; color yellowish green, with 
brownish dorsal line, and similar ventral line on abdomen. 
Length \ inch. 

Found in all our district except perhaps some northern- 
most portions, from few of which it has been reported, 
flying in gardens and fields. It hibernates like the species 
of Thanaos as a full-fed caterpillar and is apparently double- 
brooded in our district, but triple-brooded in the Southern 
States; it first appears about the middle of May and again 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 165 

late in July, then flying until September. The eggs are 
very broad sugar-loaf-shaped, broader than high and with 
vertical ribs which are very coarse and thick at summits, 
of a yellow color inclining to carneous, and are laid singly 
on the upper surface of leaves; they hatch in about five 
days. The caterpillar feeds principally upon Chenopodia- 
ceae and Aramantaceae, especially Chenopodium and Ara- 
mantus ; when young, nests are made like those of the young 
Thanaos; later a whole leaf is used, bent at the midrib 
and the edges fastened at wide intervals by very short 
strands of white silk; these nests are entirely closed with 
silk previous to a moult, and similarly closed and lined 
when prepared for the winter's sojourn. The chrysalis 
state lasts seven or eight days. 



Another species of this genus, P. hayhurstii, found in the Southern 
States, occurs as far north as Kansas, West Virginia and Maryland. 

53. Genus Hespema. 

HESPEMA MONTIVAGA— THE VAKIEGATED TESSELLATE. 

(Pyrgus rnontivagus, Hesperia tessellata, Syrichtus communis.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings blackish brown, largely 
checkered with white spots, prominent among which is a broad 
median series of squarish spots, longer than broad, a premar- 
ginal series of small triangular or squarish spots, followed by a 
row of dots ; and on the fore wings, between the two principal 
series in the upper half of the wing, two series of elongate white 
spots. On the under side of both wings these markings are 
repeated, but on the hind wings, the ground of w T hich is greenish 
brown, there is also a basal white band. Expanse 1£ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head piceous, the summits rounded. Body 
naked, briefly pilose, green with a dark interrupted dorsal line, 
dark lateral bands, and a pallid band below the spiracles ; tho- 
racic shield blackish brown ; second pair of legs resembling the 
first pair rather than the second. Length f inch. 

Chrysalis. — Body slender, the abdomen (exclusive of tail-piece) 
longer than the rest of the body, posterior lip of thoracic spiracle 
elevated, flaring ; equal apical portion of tail-piece as seen from 



166 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

above twice as long as broad ; yellowish white, dotted above with 
black. Length nearly f inch. 

A southern and western species found in nearly or quite 
all the western part of our district (but sparingly in the 
North), and in the East hardly occurring north of southern 
Ohio and Pennsylvania; in the far AVest it is perhaps the 
commonest of butterflies; its flight is very rapid and close 
to the ground. Its life-history is insufficiently known, but 
it appears to winter in the chrysalis and to be triple- 
brooded, the successive broods appearing early in spring, 
again in June and July, and once more, and more abun- 
dantly, in August and September, actually flying continu- 
ously from early spring until late autumn. The eggs 
which are nacreous-white, nearly spherical, with twenty- 
four prominent vertical ribs, are laid singly upon the upper 
surface of leaves. The caterpillar feeds upon various mal- 
lows : Sida, Malva, Althaea, and Abutilon. In summer the 
chrysalis state lasts from eight to tw T elve days. 



Another species of Hesperia, H. centaur eae, a high boreal and cir- 
cumpolar form, has been taken in one or two instances in the extreme 
east of our district even as far south as West Virginia. 



Other genera of Larger Skippers found in our district are Eudamus, 
with one species, E. proteus, a tropical type occasionally found on the 
Atlantic border as far north as New York ; Achalarus, represented 
by A. lycidas, a southern form which has been occasionally taken in 
Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and southern 
New England ; and Rhabdoides, with one species, R. cellus, again a 
southern type which is found at least as far north as West Virginia 
and Kentucky. 

TRIBE SMALLER SKIPPERS. 
5l. Genus Ancyloxipha. 

ANCYLOXIPHA NUMITOR— THE LEAST SKIPPER. 

(Thymelicus numitor, Heteropterus marginatus.) 
Butterfly. — Antennal club with no recurved hook at tip 
L T pper surface of wings tawny, very broadly bordered with dark 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 167 

brown, the fore wings so broadly as to be almost wholly brown ; 
male with no discal dash. Under surface golden tawny, all but 
the broad costal and outer margins of fore wings blackish fuligi- 
nous. Expanse about 1 inch. 

Caterpillar. — Head blackish brown. Body naked, pale green- 
ish yellow, dotted with fuscous, the thoracic shield brownish 
fuscous (immature ; full-grown caterpillar unknown). 

Chrysalis. — Reddish ash color, minutely sprinkled with brown 
dots, the tongue-case reaching the base of the tail-piece. 

Known from all but the northernmost portions of our 
district, northern New England and the Eastern Provinces ; 
it occurs in the vicinity of running water and in marshy 
meadows and flies in a languid leisurely manner close to 
the ground. It is triple-brooded and passes the w r inter 
either as a mature caterpillar or as a chrysalis, probably 
the latter. The butterflies come early in June and disap- 
pear before the end of the month ; again late in July, dis- 
appearing by the middle of August or soon after it; and 
once more in the last week of August, flying nearly to the 
end of September. The eggs, which are low hemispheri- 
cal, smooth and shining yellow, afterward orange-red, are 
laid singly and hatch in from five to ten days according to 
the season. The caterpillar feeds upon common grasses, 
probably in nature upon some semiaquatic species; when 
first hatched it makes a nest in a blade of grass by pulling 
the edges partially together with five or ten strong strands 
of silk, broadest at their bases, and lives behind the strands; 
later it fills in the interstices with a finer web. The 
chrysalis state in summer lasts in Georgia about ten days. 

55. Gentis Atrytone. 

ATRYTONE ZABULON— THE MORMON. 

(Parnphila zabulon, Hesperia hoboniok, Hesperia pocahontas.) 
Butterfly. — Upper surface of w T ings blackish brown, heavily 
marked centrally with tawny, forming on the hind wings a large, 
central, more or less angular patch, on the fore wings a number 



168 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

of irregular and very unequal spots in the interspaces ; male with 
no discal dash. Under surface dark cinnamon-brown, on the 
outer margin flecked with lilac, and centrally marked heavily 
with lemon-tawny as above, but the markings on the fore wings 
are blended with an oblique black line at the end of the cell, and 
on the hind wings form a definite transverse band abruptly and 
considerably broadened in the middle. Expanse about If inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head dark ferruginous, scabrous. Body naked, 
briefly pilose, yellowish brown, with dark dorsal and lateral lines 
and dotted with fuscous ; a narrow, interrupted, fuscous thoracic 
shield, in front of which the segment is greenish. Length |- inch. 

Chrysalis. — Uniformly livid, somewhat infuscated on head and 
thorax, the appendages with a whitish bloom ; tongue-case ex- 
tending to the eighth abdominal segment. Length nearly f inch. 

This butterfly is found throughout our district, in 
meadows, flying swiftly and abruptly, close to the ground. 
It is single-brooded and passes the winter sometimes as a 
full-grown caterpillar, sometimes as a chrysalis. The but- 
terfly appears the last week in May, becomes abundant 
early in June, and disappears before the end of that month. 
The eggs, which are smooth, hemispherical, and of a very 
pale green color, are laid singly and hatch in from eleven 
to thirteen days. The caterpillar feeds on grasses; it is a 
long time, sometimes several days, in making its exit from 
the shell, w 7 hich it then devours and next proceeds to make 
a rude nest near the joint of a blade of grass by drawing the 
edges nearly together by silken threads; if at any time it is 
at all disturbed, it quits its habitation and makes a new nest, 
occupying much time in its construction, the edges of the 
blade being drawn closer and closer by continually shorten- 
ing threads; when about to change to chrysalis, it forms a 
tube for its concealment by uniting adjoining grass-blades 
and lines the cavity closely with silk. 

The female of this species is dimorphic, one form re- 
sembling the male in color, the other (pocahontas) melanic, 
all the darker markings being extended and the brighter 
ones obscured. 



FAMIL Y SKIPPERS. 169 

Another species of this genus, A. logan, a southern form, is found 
over nearly the same parts of our district as A. zabulon, but is far less 
abundant, though it is not uncommon in the West and especially be- 
yond the Mississippi ; and another species, found in New Jersey and 
described under the name of Pamphila aaroni, is said to be closely 
allied to these two species and may belong in the same genus. 

56. Genus Ebynnis. 
ERYNNIS SASSACUS— THE INDIAN HESPERID. 

(Hesperia sassacus, Pamphila sassacus.) 
Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings tawny, the outer margin of 
the fore wings and all the margins of the hind wings heavily bor- 
dered with blackish brown, the bordering of the fore wings in- 
dented beyond the cell as if to receive the dark longitudinal patch 
lying just outside it ; discal dash of the male velvety black, 
slender, slightly arcuate, tapering a little at each end. Under 
surface pale greenish buff, the markings of the fore wings ob- 
scurely traced, and beyond the middle of the hind wings a faint 
bent row of five not very large, square, pallid spots. Expanse 
about If inches. 
Caterpillar and Chrysalis undescribed. 

This butterfly is found everywhere in the southern half 
of our district in fields and meadows. It is single-brooded 
and probably winters as a chrysalis. The butterfly appears 
about the last of May and disappears by the middle of July. 
The eggs, which are smooth, hemispherical, and almost 
chalk-white when laid, become dirty yellow afterwards; 
they are laid singly and hatch in about twelve or fifteen 
days. The caterpillar is very plump at birth and feeds on 
grasses, — Panicum and doubtless others; it is very sluggish 
and less cleanly than others of the tribe and makes, at least 
at first, scarcely an apology for a nest, living near the joints 
of grasses where the blade embraces the stem. 



Several other species of this genus are found in our district : 
E. manitoba, sparingly in its northernmost limits ; E. metea, known 
only in a few localities in southern New England and in Wisconsin ; 
E. attains, a southern species occasionally occurring in our southern 
borders ; and E. uncas, which has been taken in Pennsylvania and 
extends to Colorado. 



170 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

57. Genus Anthom aster. 
ANTHOMASTER LEONARDUS-LEONARD'S HESPERID. 

(Pampliila leonardus.) 

Butterfly.— Upper surface of wings dark brown, the fore wings 
with an extramesial series of tawny spots, all but the uppermost 
large ; discal dash of male black, largest and arcuate at base, 
very long and slender ; hind wings with a moderately broad ex- 
tramesial pale tawny band, crossed by dark nervures. Under 
surface cinnamoneous, the markings of the upper side repeated 
but paler, on the hind wings white and the band narrowed, 
lengthened, and more definite. Expanse more than 1J inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black. Body naked, briefly pilose, pale 
green dotted with black, the thoracic shield fuscous with black 
margins (immature ; full-grown caterpillar unknown). 

Chrysalis. — Unknown. 

Found throughout most or all of our district in open 
country, but unrecorded from Minnesota and Wisconsin, 
eastern Maine and eastward. It hibernates as a partly-grown 
caterpillar, possibly before moulting, and is single-brooded, 
flying at the end of August and in September. The eggs, 
which are high hemispherical, smooth and white, are laid 
upon the blades of the food-plant singly and hatch in from 
fifteen to tw r enty days. The caterpillar feeds upon Agrostis 
and doubtless other grasses, wandering about the blades in 
the autumn and constructing then no nest of any kind. 

58. Genus Polites. 
POLITES PECKIUS— THE YELLOW-SPOT. 

(Painphila peckius, Hesperia wainsutta.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark brown, marked with 
tawny in an extramesial series of elongate spots, reduced to dots 
and removed outwardly beyond the cell of the fore wings, and 
crossing but half of the hind wings ; discal dash of male velvety 
black, sinuous and interrupted before the middle. Under surface 
cinnamoneous, the markings of the fore wings repeated in yellow, 
on the hind wings consisting of a very large and very irregular 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 171 

polypoid patch of lively yellow, made up of an oblique basal and 
a very broad transverse extramesial band which is abruptly 
broadened in the middle and thus blends with the basal band. 
Expanse 1} inches. 

Caterpillar.— Head piceous, rugulose. Body naked, briefly 
pilose, pale brown, thickly dotted with inky black, giving the 
whole a griseous appearance ; a blackish dorsal line ; thoracic 
shield broad and black (immature ; full-grown caterpillar un- 
known). 

Chrysalis. —Unknown. 

Found everywhere in our district in open country, and 
one of our commonest butterflies. It probably hibernates 
either as a full-grown caterpillar or as a chrysalis; it is 
single-brooded in the northernmost parts of our district, 
flying from the last of June to the middle of August, while 
in the other portions it is double-brooded, flying first from 
the end of May to the middle of July or later, and again 
in August and September. The eggs, which are smooth, 
hemispherical, at first white with a greenish tinge, after- 
wards decorated with coarse reel dendritic markings, are 
laid singly and hatch in from ten to fifteen clays according 
to the season. The caterpillar feeds on grasses and is very 
uneasy, roaming about a great deal, making very slight and 
delicate nests, otherwise similar to those of its allies, and is 
easily alarmed. 

59. Gexus Thymelicts. 
THYMELICTJS MYSTIC— THE LONG-DASH. 

(Hesperia mystic, Paniphila mystic.) 

Butterfly.— Upper surface of fore wings tawny, brightest in the 
male, with a very broad outer margin of dark brown and two 
large dark patches, one just beyond the tip of the cell, the other 
beneath it at the base ; discal dash of male very slender, slightly 
arcuate, blackish brown, followed below by a rather large, 
rounded, soft brown patch : hind wings dark brown with an 
equal, short, extramesial tawny band and a tawny spot at base. 



172 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

Under surface orange buff (male) or tawny cinnamoneous 
(female), often infuscated, the brighter markings of the upper 
surface vaguely repeated and paler, the band of the hind wings 
generally indistinct in the male. Expanse 1£ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head reddish brown. Body naked, briefly 
pilose, dull brownish green, sprinkled with darker dots and 
having a dark dorsal line ; thoracic shield brownish black, in 
front of it dirty white. Length 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Unknown. 

This butterfly is undoubtedly found over the whole of 
our district, though it is recorded from few 7 localities in the 
West; it frequents open grassy fields, and hibernates as a 
caterpillar; it appears to be single-brooded A n the northern- 
most parts of its range, flying toward the end of June; but 
over most of our district it is double-brooded, first appear- 
ing very early in June or even late in May and rarely 
flying into July, and being again on the w r ing from the 
middle of July to September; but probably in somewhat 
scantier numbers, for some of the caterpillars of the first 
brood, though full fed, have not changed to chrysalis when 
winter appears, when the caterpillars of the second brood 
are partly grown. The eggs are smooth, hemispherical, and 
very pale green, are laid singly very lightly affixed to grass- 
blades, and hatch in from eight to fourteen clays, accord- 
ing to place and season. The caterpillar feeds on grasses, 
does not devour its forsaken egg-shell, and makes a tubular 
nest of grass-blades, to which it retires on the slightest 
alarm; it is firmly constructed of many blades and many 
threads and the interstices covered with a gauze-like open 
framework. 

Other species of this genus found in our district are T. aet?ia, a 
southern species not very unconinion as far north as Canada ; and 
T. brettus, known mostly from the southern coast, but extending 
northward into Connecticut, and reported also from Wisconsin. 



FAMILY SKIPPERS. 178 

60. Genus Limociioiies. 
LIMOCHORES TAUMAS— THE TAWNY-EDGED SKIPPER. 

(Pamphila cernes, Hesperia ahaton.) 

Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark brown, the fore w 7 ings 
with a large costal bright tawny patch (male), or an obscure 
tawny streak along outer half of cell (female), the female with an 
extramesial series of three upper small yellow dashes and two or 
three lower large squarish yellow spots, sometimes found indi- 
cated in the male ; discal dash of male black, sinuous, heavy. 
Under surface rather dark brown, flecked uniformly on hind 
wings with greenish yellow giving a grayish olivaceous effect, 
the lighter markings of fore wings repeated. Expanse scarcely 
\\ inches. 

Caterpillar. — Head black, coarsely punctured. Body naked, 
briefly pilose, rich purplish brown with a green tinge, finely 
mottled with gray and dark purplish brown ; first thoracic 
segment milk-white above, the shield piceous. Length 1 inch. 

Chrysalis. — Light brown with slight and delicate infuscations, 
the thorax darker, the head black, the whole dotted sparsely w'ith 
f usco-f erruginous ; surface vermiculate; tongue reaching the 
eighth abdominal segment. Length fully \ inch. 

Everywhere a common insect in open fields. It hiber- 
nates in the chrysalis and is single-brooded in the north- 
ernmost parts of our district, flying late in June and in 
July; but double-brooded over most of it, the first brood 
appearing the last week in May, abundant in June, and 
seen in scanty numbers all through July; the second brood, 
less abundant than the first (probably because some chrys- 
alids of the first brood winter over), appearing pretty early 
in August and flying through September. The eggs, 
which are smooth, hemispherical, and pale green, are 
attached lightly and singly to grass-blades and hatch in 
from eleven to fifteen clays. The caterpillars feed upon 
grasses, such as Panicum and Triticum, and are indolent, 
passive, and timorous, feeding only by day, rarely leaving 
their nests and then going but a little distance. For 



174 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

change to chrysalis tliey make a light, nearly erect cocoon 
about an inch long by catching a few blades of grass 
together and lining them with silk. 



Other species of this genus found in our territory are L. bimacula 
and L. manataaqua, both found throughout its southern half and 
tolerably common; L. pontiae, found in the same places but much 
rarer, commoner in the West than in the East; and L. palatka, found 
only in the West— Nebraska, Illinois, and Indiana — and little known. 



A number of other genera of the Smaller Skippers are found in our 
district, some of them not uncommonly, but they are mostly obscure 
forms and their distribution imperfectly known, and they have there- 
fore been omitted from consideration. Such are Oarisma, with one 
species, 0. poweshiek, a western form found in northern Illinois, 
Iowa, Nebraska, and westward; Potanthus, represented by P. omaha, 
known only from West Virginia and Colorado; Pamphila, a highly 
interesting type with one species, A. mandan, found in the high north 
and invading our northern border; Amblyscirtes, with two species, A. 
mails, found sparingly over all our region, and A. samoset, known 
mostly from New England but also from as far west as Iowa and 
south as Georgia; Poanes, with a single conspicuously marked species, 
P. massasoit, occurring here and there in the southern half of our 
district; Phycanassa, with one species, P. viator, a southern form 
which has once or twice occurred far north at widely separated local- 
ities; Hylephila, represented by H. phylaeus, a very abundant south- 
ern type which occasionally invades our southern borders, even as 
far as southern New England; Atalopedes, with one species, A. huron, 
a southern form reaching northward over half of our district; Euphyes, 
with three species : E. metacomet, found over all but the extreme east- 
ern part of our district and sometimes pretty common; E. verna^ which 
ranges nearly as far and is rarer; and E. osyka, a southern species 
which has been taken in northern Indiana; Lerodea, one species of 
which, L. fusca, a southern form, is said to be common about Phil- 
adelphia, Penn. ; Prenes, with two species, P. ocola and P. panoquin, 
both southern types but occasionally taken in our district, the former 
in Indiana and Pennsylvania, the latter in New Jersey; Calpodes, with 
one species, C. etlilius, a tropical form which has been once taken in 
New York; Oligoria, represented by 0. rnaculata, a southern type 
also once taken in New York; and finally Lerema, represented by two 
species, L. accius, a southern coast species occurring rarely as far 
north as Massachusetts, and L Idanna, which has been found in 
scanty numbers from Massachusetts to Nebraska. 



EXPLANATION OF SOME TERMS. 175 



EXPLANATION OP SOME TERMS. 

Other words are explained by the context. 

Acutangulate: forming less than a right angle. 

Anal angle (of the wing) : see Figure, p. 60. 

Antennae (of the butterfly) : the two long slender rods pro- 
jecting from the top of the head. 

Armature (of the legs) : the corneous attachments or ap- 
pendages, spines, claws, etc. 

Atavistic : pointing backward to ancestry. 

Bifurcate : with two prongs. 

Blind (said of ocelli on wings) : with no pupil. 

Border and Margin are used interchangeably. 

Cell, or Discoidal cell: see Figure, p. 60. 

Coronal : at the summit. 

Corneous : of a horny texture. 

Costa or Costal margin : see Figure, p. 60. 

Costal vein : see Figure, p. 60. 

Crenate : wavy or scalloped. 

Crenulate : the same, but to a less degree. 

Cycle : regularly recurring series. 

Denticulate: covered with tooth-like points, or with a 
toothed margin. 

Dimorphic : appearing under two distinct forms. 

Discal dash or stigma: a small spot (peculiar to the male 
of some Hair-Streaks and Skippers) on the fore wings, 
at the end of the cell. 

Discoidal cell : see Figure, p. 60. 

Disk : central portion of the wing. 

Dorsal shield (of the caterpillar) : the thickened plate on 
top of first thoracic segment. 

Emargination : a notch or rounded excision. 



176 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

Entire (of a margin) : whole and even. 

Environment : surroundings and their influence. 

Eversible : capable of being turned inside out. 

Extramesial : beyond the middle. 

Falcate : sickle-shaped, convex on one side, concave on the 

other. 
Fenestrate: resembling a window or opening. 
Frontal triangle (of the caterpillar) : the large triangular 

piece on the face. 
Granulated : covered with small, grain-like elevations. 
Hemisphere (of the caterpillar): one lateral half of the 

head. 
Hibernaculum : wintering nest of the caterpillar. 
Incisures: impressed lines, separating the segments of the 

body. 
Infralateral: just below the lateral line or a line midway 

between the middle of the back and the spiracles. 
Inf rastigmatal : just below the spiracles, or the spiracle- 
line. 
Inner margin (of the wing) : see Figure, p. 60. 
Intergrades : forms intermediate between others. 
Internal vein : see Figure, p. 60. 
Interspace : space between two adjoining nervules. 
Intramesial : before the middle. 
Irrorate: bedewed or uniformly sprinkled. 
Isotherm: line of equal temperature. 
Lateral (of the caterpillar) : along a line midway between 

the middle of the back and the spiracles. Sometimes 

applied loosely to the sides in general. 
Laterodorsal : situated midway between the lateral and 

mediodorsal (which see). 
Lunulate : in the form of lunules or moon-shaped crescents. 
Mandibles (of the caterpillar) : the biting jaws. 
Margin and Border are used interchangeably. 
Median vein : see Figure, p. 60. 



EXPLANATION OF SOME TERMS. 177 

Mediodorsal : lying along the middle line of the back. 

Mesial (of the wing): along the middle. 

Obsolete: very nearly or quite wanting. 

Ocellar tubercles (of the chrysalis) : the prominences aris- 
ing from the region of the eyes. 

Ocelli (of the caterpillar) : the simple eyes, each composed 
of a single facet. 

Ocelli (of the wing) : eye-like spots. 

Onisciform: shaped like a wood-louse (Oniscus), or slug- 
shaped, i.e., flattened beneath and more or less ovate in 
outline. 

Outer angle (of the fore wing) : the angle at the lower 
limit of the outer margin. 

Outer margin: see Figure, p. 60. 

Papillae : small, pimple-like elevations. 

Papillate : covered w r ith papillae. 

Parenchyma : the softer cellular tissue of a leaf. 

Pilose: covered w T ith a nap of short hairs. 

Polymorphic : appearing under many different forms. 

Polyphagous: feeding on many different plants, omnivo- 
rous. 

Prebasal (of the wing) : next but not at the base. 

Precostal vein : see Figure, p. 60. 

Premarginal: just before the margin (especially outer 
margin). 

Process : any projecting appendage or part. 

Produced: extended. 

Rectangulate : forming a right angle. 

Saddle (of the chrysalis) : the depressed part of the back 
at the base of the abdomen. 

Shield : see Dorsal shield. 

Stigma : see Discal dash or stignia. 

Stigmata : spiracles or breathing-pores. 

Stigmatal : along the line of the spiracles. 

Sub- (as a prefix) signifies nearly, as subglobular = nearly 
globular. 



178 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 

Subcostal vein : see Figure, p. GO. 

Submarginal : next to but not on the margin; usually ap- 
plied to the outer margin. 

Submedian vein : see Figure, p. GO. 

Subobsolete: present, but faint, nearly obsolete. 

Supralateral: just above the lateral line, or a line midway 
between the middle of the back and the spiracles. 

Tectate : inclined obliquely on opposite sides, like the roof 
of a tent. 

Thoracic shield : see Dorsal shield. 

Tiarate: shaped like a turban. 

Trimorphic: appearing under three distinct forms. 

Tubercles: see 'Wing-tubercles. 

Vermiculate : resembling interlacing worm-tracks. 

Wing-tubercles (of the chrysalis) : elevations at the base of 
the wing-cases; the front one, when there are two, 
is distinguished as the basal wing-tubercle. 



APPENDIX. 



INSTRUCTIONS FOE COLLECTING, BEAEIXG, 
PRESERVING, AND STUDYING. 

(From the author's " Butterflies, their Structure." etc. ; with slight changes.) 

Happily the time is past when butterfly-collectors de- 
vote their entire attention to the perfect insect. They at 
least rear them from the caterpillar or chrysalis to obtain 
fresher and more beautiful specimens for their cabinets : 
and it is to be hoped that any young enthusiasts who may 
use this book will be quite as ready to collect, preserve, and 
study the earlier stages as the full-grown insect. It 
therefore needs no apology from me in giving here more 
space to instructions concerning the pursuit of the imma- 
ture than of the mature form. 

The best method of raising butterflies is to obtain eggs 
from the parent and rear them to maturity. This is by 
no means difficult and is full of interest ; it is only neces- 
sary to know the food-plant of the caterpillar — and that 
of nearly all our northern species is ascertained; or if it 
is not known, it may often be inferred from that of neigh- 
boring species, or discovered by patiently following the 
female as she flits from leaf to leaf, and noticing the 
plants she chooses whereon to lay her eggs. The butterfly 
generally selects the middle of the day for this duty, but 

179 



180 APPENDIX. 

the eager youth must not expect at once to obtain her 
secret, for he will find himself only too often foiled. Once 
known, the way is comparatively easy ; catch a female, 
selecting for the purpose one which has evidently been fly- 
ing for at least a few days, and which is gravid with eggs, 
and inclose her beneath a gauze covering upon the grow- 
ing plant. If it be a tree or bush, tie a bag of mosquito- 
netting over a bough, taking care that there are some 
tender leaves upon it (and no ants), and so arrange the 
bag that the butterfly may rest naturally upon them ; in- 
close the butterfly and she will pretty certainly deposit 
eggs in the course of a day or two. Or, if the plant be 
one of small size, use a headless keg, covered at one end 
with gauze ; even a discarded vegetable-can will serve the 
purpose ; or again, a canopy can be made over a plant by 
thrusting the ends of a couple of bent twigs into the 
ground and covering w T ith gauze. A bit of sugared apple 
or other fruit should be inclosed as food. 

After a few days' confinement the prisoner should be 
set free. If she has not then laid eggs, she probably can- 
not, and she should be released. If she has yielded the 
desired harvest, she should be rewarded with liberty. 
When obtained, the leaves or twigs upon which the eggs 
are found may either be left where they are or carried 
home to more convenient quarters. 

It is not easy to preserve eggs entire. If they do not 
hatch they are apt to shrivel, excepting such as have a 
dense pellicle, like the hemispherical eggs of the smaller 
skippers or the tiarate eggs of the blues and coppers; it is 
nearly impossible, too, to prick the egg and save its form. 
The best way is to watch for the egress of the caterpillar 
and the moment it is free separate it from the shell, 
which it will otherwise devour; in that way I have ob- 
tained a considerable collection of these little gems. Or 
they may be obtained from the plants on which they have 



APPENDIX. 181 

been laid naturally, by searching the food-plants care- 
fully ; they are not so difficult to detect as might be sup- 
posed ; many of these will be found attacked by minute 
parasites, which generally make their exit through a single 
minute hole, leaving the egg in an admirable condition 
for the cabinet. The eggs can then be gummed, with or 
without the leaf on which they are laid, upon triangular 
bits of card-board, pinned and transferred to the cabinet. 
Inspissated ox-gall, diluted with an equal quantity of 
thick gum arabic, makes the best material for attachment 
to the card. 

In rearing from the egg the greatest difficulty is during 
early life ; young caterpillars must have the freshest and 
tenderest food and not too much confinement. With all 
precautions many will be lost, for they are so small that 
it is difficult to keep track of them, and some are very 
prone to wander when their food does not suit them. 
Some open vessel with the growing plant is the best re- 
ceptacle ; in place of this a similar vessel (the larger the 
better) holding moist sand in which a sprig of the food- 
plant is plunged may be used — covered if convenient 
with gauze to prevent the escape of the caterpillar. The 
vessel should be placed in the light, but not in the sun, 
and for many kinds it is well to lay chips or bits of bark 
upon the ground, beneath which the caterpillars may hide. 
At each moult the caterpillar remains motionless, refusing 
to feed for twenty-four hours or more, and at such times 
it should not be disturbed. It is best never to touch 
them, and, when necessary to change the food, the old leaf 
with the caterpillar upon it should be put aside or upon 
the fresh food, and only removed when deserted by the 
caterpillar. When older the creature will bear rougher 
treatment and may often be confined in a nearly tight 
tin or earthen vessel with freshly-plucked leaves; but all 
caterpillars will not bear this treatment, and care should 



182 



APPENDIX. 



always he taken that their quarters do not become in the 
least foul. 

A very convenient form of breeding-cage or vivarium 
is shown in Fig. 2, and is thus described by Mr. Kiley: 




Fig. 2.— Breeding-cage, described in the text. 

" It comprises three distinct parts : first the bottom board 
(a), consisting of a square piece of inch-thick walnut 
with a rectangular zinc pan (ff) four inches deep fastened 
to it above, to prevent cracking or warping, facilitate lift- 
ing, and allow the air to pass underneath the cage. 
Second, a box (5), with three glass sides and a glass door 
in front, to fit over the zinc pan. Third, a cap (c) which 
fits closely to the box, and has a top of fine wire gauze. 



APPENDIX. 183 

To the centre of the zinc pan is soldered a zinc tube (d) 
just large enough to contain an ordinary quinine bottle. 
The zinc pan is filled with clean sifted earth or sand (e), 
and the quinine bottle is for the reception of the food- 
plant. The cage admits of abundant light and air, and 
also of the easy removal of excrement and frass which 
falls to the ground ; while the insects in transforming 
attach themselves' to the sides or the cap according to 
their habits. The most convenient dimensions I find to 
be twelve inches square and eighteen inches high ; the 
cap and the door fit closely by means of rabbets, and the 
former has a depth of about four inches to admit of the 
largest cocoon being spun in it without touching the box 
on which it rests. The zinc pan might be made six or 
eight inches deep, and the lower half filled with sand, so 
as to keep the whole moist for a greater length of time. A 
dozen such cages will furnish room for the annual breed- 
ing of a great number of species, as several having dif- 
ferent habits and appearance, and w T hich there is no dan- 
ger of confounding, may be simultaneously fed in the 
same cage. - " 

The best success will always attend efforts to place the 
prisoner in conditions as nearly natural as possible; but 
in rearing out-of-doors it is more difficult to keep track of 
your charges, and they are of course more subject to their 
natural enemies, which are numerous and vigilant. More- 
over it is then nearly impossible to obtain the cast-off 
heads of each moult, which are well to preserve for com- 
parative study at leisure, or to complete the tangible 
marks of the life-history of the insect. 

Such caterpillars as construct nests in which to live 
when not feeding, and especially such as then live a great 
while in the caterpillar state, as for instance nearly all the 
skippers, are the hardest to rear satisfactorily apart from 
their natural homes; they do not like to live in a dried-up 



184 APPENDIX. 

house, nor to be continually wasting their energies in the 
construction of new ones, so that one's ingenuity is often 
taxed to keep them happy; but patience and careful at- 
tention to their natural conditions will reap their reward, 
and I believe it is possible with care to breed any of our 
species in confinement. Caterpillars found partly grown 
in a state of nature may be reared in confinement for the 
rest of their lives with equal ease ; only one labors then 
under the disadvantage, if he cares only for the butterfly, 
of being rewarded for his pains merely by a fine batch of 
minute hymenopterous parasites or a bristling fly or two. 
To one, however, who is interested in the entire history 
of these creatures, this is not altogether a loss, for he will 
add perchance to his stock of butterfly parasites, of which 
for some species many different kinds are already known. 
The search for caterpillars in their haunts is often very 
easy, especially if their food plant, habits, and seasons are 
known ; to search for a caterpillar out of season is an 
anachronism one will not enjoy. Partly-eaten leaves are 
one of the best guides to the discovery of caterpillars; 
while such as construct nests of any sort are very readily 
detected, especially when the nests are so built as to ex- 
pose the under surfaces of leaves, where their upper sur- 
faces would be expected, as in the case of many of the 
higher skippers. The caterpillars of the blues, coppers, 
etc., are perhaps the most difficult to find, because they so 
nearly resemble in color the surfaces on which they rest ; 
the same is true of the caterpillar of our common yellow 
butterfly ; but when one has once discovered them, and 
knows lioio they look in their natural situations, the search 
becomes much easier. Others again feed mostly by night 
and retire by day to the covert of dead leaves on the 
ground or beneath sticks, and must be sought by the aid 
of the lantern. Such in particular are the caterpillars of 
our satyrs and fritillaries. 



APPENDIX. 185 

Some caterpillars pass the winter in that state, either 
just hatched, half grown, or nearly mature. To keep 
these safely through our long winter and prevent their re- 
covering from their dormancy before food for them can 
be obtained in the spring is one of the most difficult 
tasks. It is best, as a general rule, to place them in 
closed or nearly closed, vessels, not too small, in a dry but 
cool cellar, and not to move them until their food-plant 
is again in leaf. Mr. Edwards has succeeded well with some 
of those which have eaten little or nothing before going 
into winter quarters, by placing them through the winter 
in an ice-house, which would seem to be rather heroic 
treatment at first sight ; but in almost any other situa- 
tion they are liable to rouse from their lethargy too early 
in the spring, the critical period, no doubt, of their life. 
For collecting caterpillars, pocket tin boxes are the best 
receptacles. 

The satisfactory preservation of the caterpillar for the 
cabinet is far easier than is generally supposed. For ana- 
tomical purposes it is much better to dissect fresh speci- 
mens, but very much may be done with specimens that 
have been preserved in not too strong alcohol, or in 
glycerine and carbolic acid. For the study of the mark- 
ings or of the external features or form, nothing equals 
the method known as inflation, where only the pellicle 
and its appendages are preserved, and which has the ad- 
vantage of allowing the caterpillar to be readily placed in 
an ordinary cabinet beside the other forms of the creature's 
life; also of preserving in their natural relations all the 
spines and hairs which clothe the body, and of allowing 
these to be studied at pleasure; specimens preserved in 
any fluid, on the contrary, are difficult to handle con- 
veniently, and their examination is unsatisfactory from 
the matting of the hairs and spines. 

The instruments necessary for inflating are a small tin 



186 



APPENDIX. 



oven, a spirit-lamp, forceps, a pair of finely-pointed scis- 
sors, a bit of rag, a little fine wire, and a wheat straw, or a 
glass tube drawn to a fine point. The oven is simply an 
oblong tin box, about 2i inches high, 1\ inches wide, and 
5 inches long; the cover is of glass, and one end of the 
box is perforated by a circular hole \\ inches in diameter. 




Fig. 3.— Oven and lamp for preparing caterpillars by inflation. 

The oven rests upon a wire standard as in the woodcut 
[Fig. 3]. No soldering should be used upon the oven, as 
it would soon be melted. The wire for the caterpillar 
should be very fine and annealed; the best is that wound 
with green thread and used for artificial flowers. It should 
not be more than half a millimetre in diameter. [Fig. 4.] 
Kill the subject by a drop of ether or by a plunge in 
spirits. Then placing the caterpillar in the left hand, so 
as to expose its hinder extremity beyond the gently closed 
thumb and first two fingers, enlarge the vent slightly at 
the lower edge by a vertical cut with the scissors; next 



APPENDIX. 187 

lay the larva either upon bibulous paper on the table, or 
upon soft cotton cloth held in the left hand, and press the 
extremity of the body with one finger, always with the in- 
terposition of cloth or paper, so as to force out some of the 
contents of the body ; this process is continued from points 
successively farther back, a slight addi- 
tional portion of the contents of the body 
being gently pressed out with each new 
movement. Throughout all this process FlG 4._wound 
great care should be taken lest the skin wire for support- 
should be abraded by too violent pressure, ™ g cater P illars > x 
and lest any of the contents of the body 
soil its exterior or become entangled in the hairs or spines; 
to avoid the latter, the caterpillar should be frequently 
removed to a clean part of the cloth. When a portion of 
the intestinal tube itself becomes extruded, it should be 
gripped with a pair of strong forceps, and, the head re- 
maining in the secure hold of the left hand, the tube 
should be forcibly but steadily torn from its attachments; 
with this most of the contents of the body will be with- 
drawn, and a delicate pressure passing with a rolling 
motion from the head toward the tail will reduce the sub- 
ject to a mere pellicle. 

The alcohol-lamp is now lighted and placed in position 
beneath the oven ; a wheat straw is selected, of the proper 
size to enter the enlarged vent, and the tip, after being 
cut diagonally with sharp scissors or a knife, is moistened 
a little in the mouth (to prevent too great adhesion of the 
skin to the straw) and carefully introduced into the open- 
ing of the caterpillar; the process may be aided by blowing 
gently through the straw. When the skin is slipped 
upon all sides of the straw to the distance of about a fifth 
of an inch, without any folding of the skin and so that 
both the anal prolegs protrude, a short delicate pin (Edel- 
ston and Williams, No. 19, is best) is passed through the 



188 APPENDIX. 

anal plate and the straw. If a glass tube is used, the anal 
plate must be fastened to it by winding with silk. 

By this time the oven will be sufficiently heated to begin 
the drying process, which consists simply in keeping the 
caterpillar in the oven, extended horizontally by blowing 
gently and steadily through the straw, as one uses a blow- 
pipe. Too forcible inflation will make the caterpillar 
unsightly by distending unnaturally any spot that may 
have been weakened or bruised in the previous operation; 
the caterpillar should be kept slowly but constantly turn- 
ing, and no harm will result from withdrawing the crea- 
ture from the oven and allowing it to collapse, to gain 
breath or rest ; only this relaxation should be very brief. 
The caterpillar should be first introduced into the oven 
while inflated by the breath, and so placed that the hinder 
extremity shall be in the hottest part, directly above the 
flame, for it is essential that the animal should dry from 
behind forward; yet not altogether, for as soon as the 
hinder part has begun to stiffen (which can readily be de- 
tected by withholding the breath for a moment) the por- 
tion next in front should receive partial attention, and 
the caterpillar moved backward and forward, round and 
round over the flame. During this process any tendency 
of the caterpillar to assume unnatural positions may be 
corrected — at least in part — by withdrawing it from the 
oven and manipulating it; during inflation, the parts about 
the head should be the last to dry and should be kept 
over the flame until a rather forcible touch will not cause 
it to bend. 

To secure the best results, it is essential that the oven 
should not be too hot; the flame should not be more than 
an inch high, and its tip should be one or two inches from 
the bottom of the oven. 

When the skin of the caterpillar will yield at no point, 
it is ready for mounting. The pin is taken from the straw, 



APPENDIX. 189 

and the caterpillar skin, which often adheres to the straw, 
must be gently removed with some delicate, blunt instru- 
ment, or with the finger-nail. 

A piece of wire a little more than twice the length of 
the caterpillar is next cut, and, by means of forceps, bent 
as in Fig. 5, the tips a little incurved, a little shellac* is 



Fig. 5.— Wire bent into shape to insert into the caterpillar; not enlarged. 

placed at the distal extremity of the loop, the wire is held 
by the forceps so as to prevent the free ends of the wire 
from spreading, and they are introduced into the empty 
body of the caterpillar as far as the forceps will allow T ; 
holding the loop and removing the forceps, the cater- 
pillar is now pushed over the wire with extreme care, until 
the hinder extremity has passed half-way over the loop, 
and the shellac has smeared the interior sufficiently to 
hold the caterpillar in place when dry ; the extremities of 
the parted wires should reach nearly to the head. Nothing 
remains but to curve the doubled end of the wire tightly 
around a pin with a pair of strong forceps and to place 
the specimen, properly labelled, in a place where it can 
dry thoroughly for several days before removal to the cab- 
inet. 

For more careful preservation and readier handling, 
each specimen may be placed in a glass tube, like the test- 
tube of the chemist. The wire is then first bent in the 
middle and the bent end inserted in a hole bored in the 
smaller end of a cork of suitable size, so as nearly to pass 
through it; the loops are then formed as above; both ends 

* To prepare this, the sheets of dark shellac should he preferred 
to the light, and dissolved in forty per cent alcohol. 



190 APPENDIX. 

of the cork are varnished, and a label pasted around the 
portion of the cork which enters the tube, thus guarding 
both specimen and label from dust, and the latter from 
loss or misplacement. After two or three days the cork 
with the caterpillar attached is placed in its corresponding 
tube, and the tube may be freely handled. 

Modifications of this system will occur to every one. 
Dr. Gemminger uses a syringe for the extraction of the 
contents as well as for the inflation of the emptied skin. 
For an oven, the Vienna entomologists employ an ordi- 
nary gas-chimney, open at both ends and inserted in a 
sand-bath, which prevents, perhaps, the danger of too 
great heat. 

In rearing caterpillars for the after-stages, care must 
always be taken to provide in season a suitable place in 
the breeding-cage for the chrysalis to suspend itself: a 
twig for such as prefer such situations; a bit of shingle 
near the top of the cage for those that suspend themselves 
by the tail, or fasten themselves preferably to flat surfaces ; 
leaves for those that construct some sort of a cocoon. The 
search for chrysalids in the open air is not likely to meet 
with great success excepting in a few instances, such as 
the imported cabbage butterfly, whose chrysalids can be 
found in only too great abundance beneath palings or on 
the under edge of clapboards on farm-houses; those of the 
blues and their allies may often be found beneath stones, 
but one must be an enthusiast to follow the search at all 
successfully; such as fall into the hands of the general 
entomologist must be counted as clear gain; yet these will 
often repay him who studies also the parasites of butter- 
flies, so often are they found to be infested. 

The preservation of chrysalids with their colors is easy 
for all that are not of some green tint; and these are few. 
Long-lived chrysalids are not easily killed excepting by 
extreme dryness. Some will survive a twelve hours' plunge 



APPENDIX. 191 

in alcohol, and those that could not would generally lose 
some of their colors by the immersion. Dry heat is the 
best method, but it should be accompanied after death by 
further drying after an opening has been made into the 
body, lest the contents should decay. Parasitized speci- 
mens form the best .material for the cabinet, but even 
shells from which the inmate has escaped can by careful 
manipulation and a little glue have their separated parts 
so joined as to answer fairly the desired purpose. Solid 
specimens can be pinned through one side of the thorax, 
but the mere pellicle should have, the hooks of the tail 
securely fastened to a little ball of cotton wool or bit of 
felt, through which the pin may be passed. It is not easy 
to glue empty chrysalids permanently to cards, and these 
are very apt to hide the parts one wishes at some future 
time to examine. Skilful persons may attain some success 
with thin-skinned chrysalids, like that of the milkweed 
butterfly, for instance, the shape of which 
is difficult to retain, by removing the con- 
tents through a small opening at one side 
and stuffing with cotton. 

The best form of net for the capture of 
butterflies is a bag fastened to a hoop or 
ring of some sort, to which a handle may 
be attached. The hoop should be made of 
galvanized iron wire, forming a circle about 
twelve to fourteen inches in diameter, and * 

the bag, made of double bobbinet and at- fr ^ e for^utter- 
tached to the wire by strong linen or cotton, flies, a, wire ring, 
should taper regularly, have a rounded with f nds b ? nt , t0 

, , insert into the fer- 

bottom, and be about thirty inches long, rule, 6; c, point 
so as to double over the net and and have where tbe P lug 

« . , t, , ,. ,_ and net handle 

a lew inches to spare. By bending the mee t. 

two ends of the wire as in Fig. 6, they can 

be dropped into a brass tube and securely fixed in place 




192 



APPENDIX. 



by a tight plug of hard wood, leaving the other end of 
the tube open for the insertion of a removable handle; 
or a very convenient form of net can be constructed on 
the following plan shown in Fig. 7 and thus described 




Folding net frame, explained in the text. 



by Mr. Riley : " Take two pieces of stout wire, each about 
twenty inches long; bend them half circularly and join 
at one end by a folding hinge having a check on one 
side (5). The other ends are bent and beaten into two 
square sockets (/), which fit to a nut sunk and soldered 
into one end of a brass tube (d). When so fitted they 
are secured by a large-headed screw (e), threaded to fit 
into the nut-socket, and with a groove wide enough to 
receive the back of a common pocket-knife blade. The 
wire hoop is easily detached and folded, as at c, for con- 
venient carriage; and the handle may be made of any 
desired length by cutting a stick and fitting it into the 




APPENDIX. 193 

hollow tube a, which should be about six inches long." The 
stick should be about four feet long. Mr. Lintner makes 
use of a rod with a head [Fig. 8] screwed to one end, in 
which to fasten an elastic brass ribbon, on which the net is 
drawn, but which when not in use may be placed inside the 
hat, while the stick serves as a cane, and the head and bag 
may be placed in the pocket. An entomologist becomes 
a less conspicuous personage with such an outfit. 

The " chase " for butterflies should rarely be a question 
of speed; caution and stratagem are better arts; a butter- 
fly should rarely be alarmed, or the game is lost; intent 
upon a flower, one may even be captured with the fingers 
by slow approach upon the shady side ; many 
have the habit of returning to a twig they 
have left, and can be captured by lying in 
wait near the spot; others will course up 
and down a roadside, a forest lane, or a 
hedgerow, and may be easily netted by taking 
advantage of this habit. Nor should it be 
forgotten that not a few are very limited 
indeed in the selection of their haunts, and 
every kind of spot should be visited; some 
confine their flight to marshy spots and even FlG< 
to particular bogs; some prefer the open headforaremov- 
fields; pastures where thistles and other 
weeds are in flower attract a great crowd; others may be 
found in openings in the forest where the fire-weed conceals 
the charred timber beneath its panicles of blue flowers ; one 
will not look in vain upon the goldenrods and blossomed 
vines which fringe the roadside or stone walls; the shrub- 
bery which loves the margin of slender streams or the 
edge of thickets is a favorite haunt of many; sheltered 
valleys with their varying verdure are always a choice re- 
sort of the entomologist; but even the tops of rugged 
mountains or sandy wastes given to sorrel and feeble grasses 




194 APPENDIX. 

will yield their quota; the garden too, the vegetable field, 
and even the roadside puddles must not be neglected. 

One soon learns to capture with a dexterous turn of the 
net, and no description of the method is worth anything 
beside a very little experience; when captured the net 
should be turned to prevent escape and the butterfly 
gently seized from outside the net, with the wings back to 
back to prevent its struggling and so bruising itself; it 
should then be removed to the cyanide bottle, where, 
especially if placed in the dark pocket, it will soon be 
motionless, and speedily dies; this is the quickest and 
easiest mode of death, besides leaving the insect in the 
most perfect condition. The " cyanide bottle" is simply 
a phial with a mouth wide enough to readily admit the 
largest specimens (a smaller size is better for the smaller 
kinds), into which a little plaster of Paris has been poured 
over a small lump of cyanide of potassium (a deadly poison, 
be it noted) ; or, a lump of cyanide may be inclosed in a 
piece of chamois-skin wrapped around and tied above 
the cork, leaving the bottle clean. The cork should be re- 
moved only when necessary and for as little time as pos- 
sible; a season's use will exhaust its best strength even 
when the utmost care is taken. Some butterflies, espe- 
cially those having yellow colors, should be left in the 
bottle only a short time, for they are injured by too long 
exposure to the vapors, the yellow turning reddish. When 
removed, on reaching home, or sooner if needed, they 
should be pinned through the thickest part of the thorax, 
and in an hour or two, when the fixity of the wings which 
follows their violent death has passed away, removed to the 
setting-board. 

The best pins for butterflies are JSTos. 2, 3, and 4 of 
Klaeger's make. The setting-board needs no description 
apart from the figure given [Fig. 9], more than to say that 
beneath the groove a strip of cork or pith is attached to 



APPENDIX. 



195 



the board. Bits of glass cut to different sizes answer as 
well as the card braces represented in the illustration and 
permit one better to see whether the wing is lying perfectly 
flat. A needle inserted in a handle is required to move 
the wings into the desired position, and " to set " the 
antenna? and legs in a natural attitude; to secure these in 
the proper place they are supported by insect pins stuck 
into the board upon one side or the other of the member, 




Fig. 9.— Setting-board. 

as required. The butterflies should remain upon the set- 
ting-board for a fortnight or longer, and placed where 
they will dry readily but not be exposed to dust. At the 
expiration of that time they are ready for the cabinet. 

When one is away from home conveniences, a very 
simple device for transportation is to fold oblong bits of 
paper (rather thin writing-paper is best) into 
"triangles," as along the dotted lines in this 
sketch; into this the butterfly is placed, its 



wings folded back to back and antennae tucked carefully 
away. The place, date, and circumstances of capture (or 
a number corresponding to a journal) may be written 
upon the paper. A great number may thus be packed 
into a cigar-box or other receptacle, and spread for the 
cabinet at leisure, months or even years after collection. 
For this purpose moistening-pans are needed. A glass or 



196 APPENDIX. 

stoneware dish is the best, the top ground so as to allow a 
sheet of glass to cover it perfectly; upon the bottom 
moistened sand is placed, covered by fine brass wire net- 
ting. A few papers with their inclosed butterflies are 
placed in it, and the cover left on for twenty-four hours 
or thereabouts, when the insects may be handled nearly as 
if just caught. 

Damp, grease, and museum pests are the great destroyers 
of insect collections. To avoid the first, one has only to 
see that his cabinet is in a dry place, with a play of air 
around it. To avoid grease, insects should be thoroughly 
dried before being admitted to the cabinet, and all use of 
cedar wood in constructing the latter should be avoided; 
benzine is perhaps the best material for removing it. 
Against museum pests one can be safe only by a constant, 
vigilant, .searching oversight of his collection, or the use 
of boxes which they cannot enter; even then care must be 
taken not to introduce them one's self by placing infested 
specimens in the collection : for this purpose it is well to 
establish a safe quarantine. 

For a permanent cabinet nothing can excel the drawers 
made after the Deyrolle model, now in use by the Boston 
Society of Natural History. I have tried them for many 
years and find them entirely pest-proof. They are made 
[Fig. 10], with a cover of glass set in a frame which is 
grooved along the lower edge, and thus fits tightly into a 
narrow strip of zinc, set edgewise into a corresponding 
groove in the drawer; the grooves beyond the point of in- 
tersection of two sides are filled with a bit of wood firmly 
glued in place. It is hardly necessary to say that the sides 
of the drawer and the frame of the cover should be made 
of hard wood; soft wood would not retain the zinc strip. 
The zinc should be perfectly straight and the ends well 
matched; if this be done, nothing can enter the box when 
it is closed. The bottom should set in a groove in the 



APPENDIX. 



197 



sides and not be flush with their lower edge, so that the 
drawer may slide easily. A similar box with a wooden 
rabbet is used at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at 
Cambridge; but it cannot possibly be so tight, and re- 




Fig. 10.— Model of the Deyrolle insect-drawer, side view of front end, with the 
cover raised. D, bottom of drawer ; C, cover of same, raised a little ; /, front 
piece, with moulding (m) and handle (h). glued to bottom piece ; set, sash ; s7, 
slit in cover into which the zinc strip (z) fits ; si', slit in bottom, into which it 
is fastened ; g, bevelled groove, to allow the finger to raise the cover ; Hv, hind 
view of one end of the bottom to show the insertion of the bottom (6) ; Re. re- 
verse of one corner of cover to show the grooves filled beyond their junction. 
All the figures half size. 

quires hooks on the sides to keep the cover down; it has 
the advantage of greater cheapness, as it can be made of 
soft wood, but is at the same time clumsier. My own 
drawers are made of cherry sides, and have also a false 
front attached to them, furnished with mouldings and 
handles so as to present a not inelegant appearance; and, 
exclusive of the cork with which they are lined, cost $2.65 
each; they measure inside 18f inches long, 14 inches wide, 
and 1| inches deep, not including the cork lining. 

It is best always to cover the bottom of such drawers 
with cork or pith wood or similar soft substance, as it is 
difficult both to insert and to withdraw the pins readily in 
any ordinary wood, however soft ; and the sides and bot- 
tom should afterwards be covered with thin white paper 
for neatness' sake. 



198 APPENDIX. 

Drawers like these are rather large for small collections, 
but any smaller size is wasteful of space for arranging the 
larger species of wide expanse of wing. Some, however, 
still prefer smaller sizes for convenience of study, and use 
boxes shaped like a quarto volume, the cover hinged and 
the whole lined with binder's cloth. The volumes can 
then be lettered on the back and arranged as in a library, 
and certainly have a neat appearance. Such books can be 
made safer either by a bevelled wooden rabbet where the 
top and bottom meet, or by arranging within a second 
glass cover, but they can never be made so fully proof 
against pests as an unhinged drawer. 

A very common box, but unsafe as soon as a collection 
becomes at all large and cannot be constantly watched in 
every part, is a simple wooden box nine by fourteen inches 
in size, in which both top and bottom, made separate, are 
put to use by being lined with cork. In this case the box 
must, of course, be much deeper. Such cases can be made 
in numbers for fifty cents each, exclusive of the cork, and 
answer very well for beginners, but will be discarded after a 
time if the collection increases, unless the owner has suffi- 
cient leisure and patience to watch his treasures carefully. 

The best way to begin the study of butterflies is to 
attempt to follow out the life-history, write the biog- 
raphy, in short, of every kind found in one's own neighbor- 
hood. No one place will yield much above one hundred 
species, and, if the rarer kinds be omitted, not nearly so 
many. Yet any one who will accomplish this will add 
materially to what is known, and he will find his way 
pleasanter, his occupation more fascinating at every step. 
He need be provided at the outset with a very moderate 
stock of the articles mentioned in the preceding pages. 
He should keep a journal devoted exclusively to a record 
of his daily notes, which will prove more and more useful 
in each succeeding year. Beginning with the eggs laid by 



APPENDIX. 199 

imprisoned females or found in the open field, he should 
note every change which transpires, describe, and, if pos- 
sible, draw in detail every stage, giving to each separate 
lot a distinctive number, which it should keep until its 
name is known. As his stock enlarges and his knowledge 
increases, comparative study will supersede many of his 
earlier descriptions ; but these will not have been without 
their value ; they will have cost no more than they are 
worth ; his knowledge will have been gained through, as 
well as at the expense of, his earlier work, none of which 
will he regret; he can therefore be neither too minute 
nor too exact, nor can he afford to relax any endeavor 
until he has proved it unnecessary. 

He should preserve in his permanent collection speci- 
mens to illustrate every condition of the creature's life, as 
well as all objects which illustrate its habits and vicissi- 
tudes. Especially should all variations be observed. The 
egg with the leaf upon which it is laid in a state of nature ; 
not only the caterpillar at every stage, but in all the atti- 
tudes it assumes, the nests it weaves, the half-devoured 
leaves to show its manner of feeding, the ejectamenta, the 
parasites by which it is beset ; not only the chrysalis, but 
the emptied skin ; the butterflies of each brood, together 
with some preserved in their natural attitudes when at 
rest, and when asleep; and such dissections of the external 
parts as can be separately mounted and cannot otherwise 
be readily seen ; also the wings and body of the butterfly 
denuded of their scales, to study the structural framework 
of the insect ; and, when possible, dissections of the inter- 
nal parts preserved in alcohol. 

Every pinned specimen, excepting such as illustrate the 
anatomy only, should bear upon the pin a label giving the 
place and date of capture, and, when necessary, a number 
referring to a catalogue or note-book in which memoranda 
may be entered to any extent that is desired. The name 



200 APPENDIX. 

of the species may be given on a separate label at the head 
of each collection of objects which illustrate its history; 
and the name may, of course, also be added at will to any 
specimens which, once determined, may require redetermi- 
nation if misplaced and not specially marked. 

In rearing it is essential that every breeding cage or pot 
should be marked with a number or by other means to in- 
dicate its contents. Nothing should be left to memory in 
this particular. Nor should caterpillars which are only 
presumably of the same species be placed in the same cage, 
as there are many allied kinds which are almost indistin- 
guishable at sight, and a lack of exactitude here will viti- 
ate one's observations. 

Any one pursuing vigorously such a course of study and 
collection of native butterflies will be enchanted to see 
how fascinating the study is, how rapidly his collection 
grows, what an endless source of interest attaches to these 
humble but exquisite creatures, and into how many lines 
of real investigation his steps are tending. No one can 
undertake it without being himself the gainer by it, and 
without infusing others with his own ever-fresh enthu- 
siasm. 



*• 




INDEX OF NAMES. 



acadica, Thecla, 122 
Achalarus lycidas, 166 
Aglais, 86, 47, 54, 89 
Aglais milberti, 89 
Agraulis vanillae,66 
ajax, Iplriclides, 146 
ale est is, ArgyDnis,78 
alope, Cercyonis, 110 
Amblyscirtes samoset, 174 

vialis, 174 
Anaea 37, 45, 55, 104 
Anaea andria, 104 
Aucyloxipha, 43, 52, 166 
Ancyloxipha numitor, 166 
andria, Anaea, 104 
Angle Wings, 36, 47, 54, 82 
Anosia, 34, 45, 55, 63 
Anosia plexippus, 60, 63 
Anthocnaris, 40, 50, 58,140 
Anthocnaris genutia, 140 
Anthomaster, 44, 170 
Anthoinaster leonardus, 170 
antiopa, Euvanessa, 90 
Apatura celtis, 106 

clyton, 105 

herse, 105 

lycaon, 106 

proserpina, 105 
aphrodite, Argynnis, 77 
Araschnia prorsa, 16 
archippus, Basilarchia, 102 
xVrgus comyntas, 123 

eurydice, 108 
Argynnis, 35, 46, 54, 76 
Argynnis alcestis, 78 

aphrodite, 77 

atlantis, 76 

bellona, 72 

colunibina, 81 



Argynnis cybele, 79 

*idalia, 80 

myrina, 74 
arthemis, Basilarchia, 98 
astyanax, Basilarchia, 101 
atalanta, Vanessa, 87 
Atalopedes huron, 174 
atlantis, Argynnis, 76 
Atlides halesus, 123 
Atrytone, 44, 167 
Atrytone logan, 169 

zabulon, 167 
augustus, Incisalia, 116 
Basilarchia, 37, 47, 55, 98 
Basilarchia archippus, 102 

arthemis, 98 

astyanax, 101 

proserpina, 100 
bellona, Brenthis, 72 
Blues, 38, 48, 56, 123 
Brenthis, 35, 46, 54, 72 
Brenthis bellona, 72 

chariclea, 75 

freija, 75 

montinus, 75 

myrina, 74 
brizo, Thanaos, 162 
Brush footed Butterflies, 25, 34, 

45, 53, 63 
caesoma, Zereue, 133 
calanus, Thecla, 120 
Calephelis borealis, 113 
Callicista columella, 123 
Callidryas, 40, 49, 57, 132 
Callidryas eubule, 132 

philea, 133 

sennae, 133 
Calpodes ethlius, 174 
Calycopis cecrops, 123 

201 



202 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



cardui, Vanessa, 84 
catullus, Pholisora, 164 
celtis, Chloiippe, 106 
Cercyonis, 37, 48, 56, 110 
Cercyonis alope, 110 

nephele, 111 

pegala, 112 
Charidryas, 35, 46, 53, 69 
Charidryas ismeria, 70 

nycteis, 69 
Chlorippe, 37, 47, 55, 105 
Chlorippe celtis, 106 

clyton, 105 
Chrysophanus, 39, 49, 57, 127 
Chrysophanus ainericanus, 128 

epixantbe, 128 

hyllus, 127 

hypophlaeas, 128 

tarquinius, 130 

thoe, 127 
Cinclidia, 35, 46, 53, 68 
Cinclidia harrisii, 68 
Cissia, 37, 47, 55, 107 
Cissia eurytus, 107 

sosybius, 108 
claudia, Euptoieta, 81 
clyton, Chlorippe, 105 
coenia, Junonia, 82 
Coenonympha inornata, 112 
Colias amphidusa, 135 

caesonia, 133 

chrysotheme, 135 

eurytheme, 132 

keewaydin, 135 

philodice, 134 
comma, Polygonia, 95 
corny ntas, Everes, 123 
Coppers, 39, 57, 127 
Crescent Spots, 34, 45, 53, 66 
cresphontes, Heraclides, 151 
Cupido pseudargiolus, 125 
Cyaniris, 38, 48, 56, 125 
Cyaniris pseudargiolus, 18, 125 
cybele, Argynnis, 79 
Cynthia atafanta, 87 

cardui, 84 

huntera, 85 
dam on, Mitura, 118 
Danaids, 34, 45, 55, 63 
Danais archippus, 63 

erippus, 63 
Debis portlandia, 109 



Doxocopa herse, 105 

lycaon, 106 
edwardsii, Thecla, 121 
Emperors, 37, 55, 104 
Enodia, 37, 48, 55, 109 
Enodia portlandia, 109 
Epargyreus, 43, 51, 59, 155 
Epargyreus tityrus, 155 
Epidemia, 39, 49, 57, 128 
Epidemia dorcas, 128 

epixanthe, 128 

helloides, 128 
epixanthe, Epidemia, 128 
Erebia nephele, 111 
Erora laeta, 123 
Erycinids, 113 
Erynnis, 44, 169 
Erynnis attalus, 169 

manitoba, 169 

metea, 169 

sassacus, 169 

uncas, 169 
eubule, Callidiyas, 132 
Eucheira socialis, 11 
Eudamus proteus, 166 

py lades, 156 

tityrus, 155 
Eugonia, 36, 47, 55, 92 
Eugonia j-album, 92 
Euphoeades, 42, 51, 58, 150 
Euphoeades palamedes, 151 

troilus, 150 
Euphydryas, 35, 46, 53, 66 
Euphydryas phaeton, 66 
Euphyes metacomet, 174 

verna, 174 
Eupsyche m-album, 123 
Euptoieta, 36, 46, 54, 81 
Euptoieta claudia, 81 
Euptychia eurytus, 107 
Eurema, 40, 49, 57, 138 
Eurema lisa,138 

nicippe, 137 
eurydice, Satyrodes, 108 
Eurymus, 40, 50, 58, 134 
Eurymus eurytheme, 19, 135 

interior, 186 

philodice, 134 
eurytheme, Eurymus, 135J 
eurytus, Cissia, 107 
Euvanessa, 36, 47, 54, 90 
Euvanessa antiopa, 90 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



203 



Everes, 38, 48, 56, 123 
Everes comyntas, 17, 123 
faunus, Polygonia, 94 
Feniseca, 39, 49, 57, 130 
Feniseca tarquinius, 130 
Fritillaries, 35, 46, 54, 72 
Gaeides dioue, 131 
geuutia, Antbocbaris, 140 
glaucus, Jasouiades, 148 
Goniloba tityrus, 155 
Gossamer-winged Butterflies, 25, 

37, 48, 56, 113 
Grapta c argenteum, 93 

comma, 95 

dryas, 95 

fabricii, 97 

faunus, 94 

interrogationis, 97 

j-album, 92 

progne, 93 

umbrosa, 97 
Hair Streaks, 38, 48, 56, 113 
harrisii, Cinclidia, 68 
Heliconians, 66 
Heodes, 39, 49, 57, 128 
Heodes bypophlaeas, 128 
Heraclides, 42, 51, 58, 151 
Heraclides cresphontes, 151 
Hesperia, 43, 52, 59, 165 
Hesperia abaton, 173 

centaureae, 166 

hobomok, 167 

montivaga, 165 

mystic, 171 

pocabontas, 167 

sassacus, 169 

tessellata, 165 

wamsutta 170 
Hesperidae, 25 
Heteropterus marginatus, 166 
Hipparcbia alope, 110 

andromacba, 109 

boisduvalii, 108 

eurytris, 107 

nepbele, 111 
buntera, Vanessa, 85 
Hylepbila pbylaeus, 174 
Hypatus bacbmanii, 112 
bypopblaeas, Heodes, 128 
icelus, Thanaos, 163 
idalia, Speyeria, 80 
Incisalia, 38, 56, 114 



Incisalia augustus, 116 

irus, 115 

niphon, 114 
interrogationis, Polygonia, 97 
iole, Nathalis,139 
Ipbiclides, 41, 51, 58, 146 
Ipbiclides ajax, 17, 146 
irus, Incisalia, 115 
j-album, Eugonia, 92 
Jasouiades, 42, 51, 58, 148 
Jasoniades glaucus, 17, 148 

turn us, 148 
Junonia, 36, 47, 54, 82 
Junouia coenia, 82 

lavinia, 82 
juvenalis, Tbanaos, 161 
Kallima, 24 

Laertias, 41, 50, 58, 145 
Laertias pbilenor, 145 
Larger Skippers, 42, 51, 59, 155 
leonardus, Autbomaster, 170 
Lerema accius, 174 

hianna, 174 
Lerodea fuse a, 174 
Libytbeiuae, 26 
Limenitis arcbippus, 102 

artbemis, 98 

astyanax, 101 

disippus, 102 

misippus, 102 

Ursula, 101 
Limocbores, 44, 173 
Limocbores bi macula, 174 

mauataaqua, 174 

palatka, 174 

pontiac, 174 

taumas, 173 
liparops, Tbecla, 119 
lisa, Eurema, 138 
Long Beaks, 112 
lucilius, Tbanaos, 158 
Lycaena comyntas, 123 

epixantbe, 128 

neglecta, 125 

pseudargiolus, 125 

violacea, 125 
Lycaenidae, 25 

Meadow Browns, 37, 47, 55, 107 
Meganostoma caesonia, 133 
Megisto eurytus, 107 
melinus, Uranotes, 117 
Melitaea barrisii, 68 



204 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Melitaea marcia, 71 

nycteis, 69 

phaeton, 66 

pharos, 71 

tharos, 71 
rnilberti, Aglais, 89 
Minois alope, 110 

nephele, 111 
Mitura, 38, 56, 118 
Mitura darnon, 118 
montivaga, Hesperia, 165 
myrina, Brenthis, 74 
mystic, Thymelicus, 171 
Nathalis, 40, 50, 58, 139 
Nathalis iole, 139 

irene, 139 
Neonympha can thus, 108 

Cornelius, 112 

eurytris, 107 

mitchellii, 112, 

phocion, 112 
nephele, Cercyonis, 111 
nicippe, Xanthidia, 137 
niphon, Incisalia, 114 
Nisoniades brizo, 162 

catullus, 164 

ennius, 161 

icelus, 163 

juvenalis, 161 

lucilius, 158 

persius, 159 
Nomiades couperi, 127 

lygdarnus, 127 
numitor, Ancyloxipha, 166 
nycteis, Charidryas, 69 
Nymphalidae, 25 
Nyrnphalis arthemis, 98 

dry as. 95 

ephestion, 101 

faunus, 94 

j-album, 92 

lamina, 98 

rnilberti, 89 

ursula, 101 
Nymphs, 34, 45, 53, 66 
Oarisma poweshiek, 174 
Oeneis Calais, 112 

jutta, 112 

macounii, 112 

semidea, 112 
oleracea, Pieris, 143 
Oligoria maculata, 174 



Orange Tips, 40, 50, 58, 140 
Pamphila aaroni, 169 

cernes, 173 

leonardus, 170 

man dan, 174 

mystic, 171 

peckius, 170 

sassacus, 169 

zabulon, 167 
Paphia glycerium, 104 

troglodyta, 104 
Papilio, 42, 51, 59, 153 
Papilio ajax, 146 

aster i as, 153 

brevicauda, 154 

cresphoutes, 151 

glaucus, 148 

marcellus, 146 

philenor, 145 

polyxenes, 153 

telamonides, 146 

thoas, 151 

troilus, 150 

turnus, 148 
Papilionidae, 25 
Pararge can thus, 108 
peckius, Polites, 170 
persius, Thanaos, 159 
phaeton, Euphydryas, 66 
philenor, Laertias, 145 
philodice, Eurymus, 134 
Phoebis agarithe, 140 
PhoHsora, 43, 52, 59, 164 
Pholisora catullus, 164 

hayhurstii, 165 
Phycanassa viator, 174 
Phyciodes, 35, 46, 53, 71 
Phyciodes batesii, 72 

gorgone, 72 

harrisii, 68 

nycteis, 69 

tharos, 17, 71 
Pierids, 39, 49, 57, 132 
Pieris, 41, 50, 58, 143 
Pieris cruciferarum, 143 

frigida, 143 

napi, 143 

Occident alis, 141 

oleracea, 143 

protodice, 141 

rapae, 144 

vernalis, 141 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



205 



plexippus, Anosia, 63 
Poaues massasoit, 174 
Polites, 44, 170 
Polites peckius, 170 
Polygonia, 36, 47, 55, 93 
Polygon ia comma, 95 

faun us, 94 

gracilis, 98 

interrogationis, 16, 97 

progue, 93 

satyrus, 98 
Polyommatus comyntas, 123 

crataegi, 130 

epixanthe, 128 

lucia, 125 

porsenna, 130 

tarquinius, 130 

thoe, 127 
polyxenes, Papilio, 153 
Pontia, 41, 50, 58, 141 
Pontia casta, 143 

oleracea, 143 

protodice, 141 
Portland ia, Enodia, 109 
Potanthus omaha, 174 
Prenes ocola, 174 

panoquin, 174 
progne, Polygonia, 93 
protodice, Pontia, 141 
pseudargiolus, Cyaniris, 125 
pylades, Thorybes, 156 
Pyrameis atalanta, 87 

cardui, 84 

huntera, 85 

terpsichore, 85 

virginiensis, 85 
Pyrgus montivagus, 165 
Pyrisitia mexicana, 140 
rapae, Pieris, 144 
Red Horns, 39, 49, 57, 132 
Rhabdoides cellus, 166 
Rusticus scudderii, 127 

striatus, 127 
sassacus, Erynnis, 169 
Satyrodes, 37, 48, 55, 108 
Satyrodes eurydice, 108 
Satyrs, 37, 47, 55, 107 
Satyrus alope, 110 

nephele, 111 

portlandia, 109 
Semnopsyche diana, 82 
Skippers, 25, 42, 51, 59, 155 



Smaller Skippers, 43 52 59, 166 
Sovereigns, 37, 47 55, 98 
Speyeria, 35, 46, 54, 80 
Speyeria idalia, 80 
Strymon, 38, 56, 113 
Strymon melinus, 117 

titus, 113 
Swallow Tails, 41, 50, 58, 145 
Synchloe olympia, 141 
Syrichtus communis, 165 
tarquinius, Feniseca, 130 
taumas, Limochores, 173 
Terias lisa, 138 

nicippe, 137 
Thanaos, 43, 52, 59, 158 
Thanaos ausonius, 164 

brizo, 162 

horatius, 164 

icelus, 163 

juvenalis, 161 

lucilius, 158 

martialis, 164 

persius, 159 

terentius, 161 
tharos, Phyciodes, 71 
Thecla, 38, 56, 119 
Thecla acadica, 122 

arsace, 115 

auburniana, 118 

augustus, 116 

borus, 122 

calanus, 120 

californica, 122 

costalis, 118 

cygnus, 122 

damon, 118 

edwardsii, 121 

falacer, 120 

favonius, 117 

henrici, 115 

humuli, 117 

hyperici, 117 

inorata, 120 

irus, 115 

liparops, 119 

lorata, 123 

melinus, 117 

mopsus, 113 

niphon, 114 

Ontario, 123 

smilacis, 118 

souhegan, 122 



206 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Thecla strigosa, 119 

titus, 113 
thoe, Chrysophanus, 127 
Thorybes, 43, 51, 59, 156 
Thorybes bathyllus, 158 

electra, 158 

pylades, 156 
Thymele tityrus, 155 
Thymelicus, 44, 171 
Tbymelicus aetna, 172 

brettus, 172 

mystic, 171 

numitor, 166 
titus, Stryuiou, 113 
tityrus, Epargyreus, 155 
troilus, Eupboeades, 150 
Typical Butterflies, 25, 39, 49, 132 
Uranotes, 38, 56, 117 
Uranotes melinus, 117 
Vanessa, 36, 47, 54, 84 
Vanessa antiopa, 90 



Vanessa atalanta, 87 

c-album, 95 

cardui, 84 

coenia, 82 

comma, 95 

faunus, 94 

furcillata, 89 

huntera, 10, 85 

interrogationis, 97 

j-album, 92 

milberti, 89 

progue, 93 
Whites, 41, 50, 58, 141 
Xauthidia, 40, 49, 57, 137 
Xantbidia lisa, 138 

nicippe, 137 
Yellows, 39, 49, 57, 132 
zabulon, Atrytone, 167 
Zerene, 40, 50, 58, 133 
Zerene antbyale, 134 

caesonia, 133 



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